Bonds
by idolsuki
Summary: Sarada loves her parents dearly but even with the bonds her parents have to one another, there is still a fear someone may step in and rip them apart . Sasuke,Sakura, and Sarada fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone so this Fanfiction I took a shot at making it along the Boruto timeline, it's the first time I've added Sarada to my fanfiction's entirely I only mentioned her in my most recent story _"50 Shades with the Uchiha's"_ but this time she will be featured in the story as a main character, along with of course her parents. **

********Update:**** **Posting Chapter 24 soon! *****

 **BONDS**

 ** _Chapter 1_**

Sasuke returning home to the village after he got back from his most recent mission, met with the Hokage Uzumaki Naruto as he wanted to brief him on his latest findings; since it was something he made sure to do every time he had returned back from his long journey away.

"Thank you Sasuke." Naruto said as he made sure to be there in front of him face-to-face, instead of using one of his kage bunshin clones like he did for other matters.

Sasuke smirking at having Naruto greet him personally despite being so busy running the village, handed him some papers as he looked toward him more seriously. "What is the next mission?" He asked with his signature stoic face.

Naruto a little taken back about him asking for his next mission before he had even been back a full minute, was more then rightfully concerned as he had already been gone on his current mission for months now and him going on another one so soon could see him going away even longer.

"Well about that…" He spoke nervously

 **Uchiha House**

Elsewhere as Sarada cooked dinner by herself while seeing as the time was running late, she began to worry after she turned down the stove burner and removed a pan from the dwindling heat.

"Ah... Momma looks like your running late again?" She thought as she prepped a plate for just herself, while putting up the extra one she had pulled out back in the cabinet.

As Sarada made her way over to the table with her plate, finding herself moving and playing with the food on it; she began to worry that her childhood would be one completely without parents, since she was having dinner on her own seemingly yet again.

While she contemplated this Sarada stopping herself as she looked over at their most recent family picture, had began to long for not only her father but her mother as well; especially since lately she had been more alone then normal with her mother being so busy at work.

Huffing at her overall luck, Sarada finally putting some food in her mouth heard the door suddenly opening up next, catching her attention as she shot up on her feet so she could greet her mom coming into the house as she unexpectedly felt excited by her return.

"Welcome back…Mama…Eh…Papa?"

 **Hospital**

Elsewhere at the hospital after a emergency light turned off, Sakura leaving a room with a patient being wheeled out behind her; wipes some bead of sweat off of her forehead, as she breaths a easy sigh of relief before a nurse hands her some papers.

"Good the patient is out of danger now." She spoke happily as she looked over at the sheets and revisited the patient's stats.

"Good work Sakura-san," A male doctor said as he walked up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh Daichi-kun, thank you it was close for a minute... But I'm glad that Mr. Ito will pull through." She said happily as she looked towards the dark haired man.

"Yes, you truly are amazing; I don't know what we would do without you." He added with a genuine smile as he patted the back of his head

"Umm… I'm nothing special just doing my job." she tried to say as she waived a hand at him giving her too much credit.

 **Uchiha House**

"PAPA… You …You're home." Sarada yelled out in surprise to see her father of all people coming through the door.

"Humph…" he smirked seeing his daughter was amazed by him being home without warning, "Where is Sakura?" He asked next since he was anticipating her coming in and screaming welcome home like always when he returned back.

However Sarada looking down first sadly, before looking up at the time once again turned to her father to respond finally too his question. "Mama must still be at work… Normally she would be home by now, but she's been staying pretty late recently."

Sasuke not saying a word to his daughter's answer, as he looked back at her with a blank face noticed her suddenly cheering herself up as she seemed to change the subject rather fast.

"Papa… Are you hungry? I made some extra food, I was expecting to eat dinner with mama but there is plenty if you would like some." she asked with big eyes as she was hoping he would say yes.

Sasuke seeing Sarada's anxious expression change to a sadder one the longer he took to respond made sure to give her a smile as he definitely didn't want her to feel lonely being home by herself.

"Sure." He responded before he watched her head for the kitchen and excitingly grabbing the extra plate from the cabinet.

 **Hospital**

Back at the hospital after Sakura had washed her hands and left the bathroom, she quickly grabbed her purse in her office since she was ready to finally head home for the night.

"Wow it's really gotten late." She commented after checking the wrist watch she had put on, since she couldn't wear it during the time she was in the operation room.

"Awww man, Sarada is going to be mad at me for missing dinner," She spoke sadly to herself next as she finally made her way out of her office, however Sakura searching through her purse for her office keys found them strangely disappear as she needed to lock up before she could go home.

"My keys where are they?" She worryingly spoke before hearing the sound of running shoes coming down the hallway towards her causing her to look up at their owner.

"Sakura-San, I'm glad I caught you before you left." Daichi called out as he caught up to her before trying to catch his own breath.

"Daichi-kun? What is it?" she asked confused by his sudden rushed appearance.

"Gomen ne," He spoke first after clapping his hands together while closing his eyes tightly. "I know you must be tired and need to get home to your family, but the patient's vitals have been going down and I was hoping you could stay with me to keep an eye on him." He asked next with pleadful eyes.

"Eh? Daichi- kun, I really need to check on Sa…." She said before finding him interrupt her.

"I know, I know you need to check on your husband and daughter, but I'm afraid I can't help him to your level." He said as he bowed down to his knees right away.

"Daichi please stand up," Sakura quickly said as she felt embarrassed by his dramatic reaction. "I see your concern… Okay let me just call Sarada I'll be right there." She reluctantly said while reaching in her bag to grab her phone.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," he bowed as he watched her walk away.

 _Ring... Ring... Ring_

"Hello... Mama?" A voice asked as Sakura had the phone up to her ear, with the mouth piece covered by her hand.

"Sarada sorry I have to stay at the hospital tonight, I have a really sick patient that needs to be looked after. Will you be okay on your own?" Sakura asked while turning to see Daichi behind her, as a nurse ran up to him with a chart.

"Um, Yes but Mama…" Sarada started to say before Sakura felt a hand, return to her shoulder as Daichi got her attention immediately.

"The patient is critical we need to go now." Daichi demanded as he tugged on her arm to follow.

"Sarada I'll be home soon bye," Sakura spoke speedily as she hung up the phone and took off with Daichi.

 **Uchiha home**

Hello…. Mama… Mama… Papa is," Sarada spoke before hearing the dial tone, causing her to reluctantly hang up the phone. "Home" she spoke more quietly to herself, as she was saddened by not being able to tell her this before she hung up.

"Sorry Papa looks like Mama is stuck at the hospital again." Sarada said with a forced smile, as she watched him get up from the kitchen table as he picked up some of the dirty plates.

"Its okay I can wait for her," He responded as he went to wash the dishes in the sink.

Sarada looking down at the phone after his response, made her way over to help him clean as she decides to address a concern to him about something that was bugging her. "Papa I was wondering," she began to speak while she was cleaning up the table.

"You and mama do you ever get worried that someone may come in the picture between you two?" she asked as she picked up the silverware next.

Sasuke a little surprised by the question, didn't know how to respond as it was a strange question for her to ask of him all the sudden. "Is something wrong?" He asked before he turned off the water as he tried to gauge her meaning.

Sarada looking nervously at him adjusted her glasses, as she didn't know how to bring up her concern to her father.

 **Hospital**

"Okay Mr. Ito seems to be okay now… I just can't understand what happened?" Sakura asked herself as she looked at his vitals on the monitor as they kept a normal rhythmic beat.

"I'm not sure either Mrs. Uchiha…He was completely fine when I left and then he seemed to drop out of no where, but thankfully you were here."The nurse spoke as she straightened out the bed sheets for the patient.

"Yes thankfully you were here," Daichi commented back happily to second the nurse's remarks.

"It was really nothing," Sakura responded while looking at the two of them, as she nodded her head while blushing over the praising.

Once Sakura left the room of her patient in care of the nurse, finding Daichi right behind her made Sakura concerned as he seemed to have a different demeanor then he had before.

"Are you okay… Daichi-kun?" she asked after seeing him a little down.

"It's nothing really, I just feel bad that I made you stay here tonight. I'm just not that confident in my skills just yet, I've only been a doctor for a few months now yet I still feel like a newbie," he joked as he walked side by side with her.

"Its okay, never feel sorry for asking for help… It's true we're doctors, but we are humans to. Plus we're here to help our patients," Sakura added before a big yawn suddenly slipped out.

"Well you better get home; I can watch him from here." He said as he looked at his own clock.

"Umm… Its okay I'll stay with you… To be honest I'm actually worried about Mr. Ito if his vitals change again like that without any warning then you'll need me here for support," She said with a smile."Besides Sarada will be sleep soon, so it's really no problem now." She spoke more somberly

"Thanks Oh... How about some coffee? My treat," Daichi said with a big smile as he pulled out some money from his pocket.

"Sure sounds good," Sakura responded tiredly.

 **Uchiha home**

"Sorry papa, I don't mean much by it but… it's just …You see there is this doctor mama has been working around lately, he seems nice and all but I feel like since she's been working with him she's always staying later… and " Sarada spoke as she sat across the table from her father.

"Its okay Sarada, I'm sure she's just working really hard at work," Sasuke reassured as he didn't seem to be worried at all by the information.

"Yes but it's just something about him that seems strange," she questioned unsure of how to describe it.

"Try not to worry to much, it's getting late you we better get some rest, looks like I'll be home for a couple of days" Sasuke added much to Sarada's delight as she had a happy face over the great news.

"Really? Do you think that maybe we can go pick up mama tomorrow, and go somewhere together." She asked hoping she could get him to promise to the arrangement.

Sasuke looking at his daughter making almost a puppy dog like face found saying anything other than what she wanted to hear hard as her face was one he didn't want to truly disappoint. "Sure." He said as he rubbed his neck at being guilted into saying yes.

"I can't wait mama is going to be so excited." She cheered as she stood up from the table.

 **Hospital**

Back at the hospital Sakura taking a sip of some coffee, had a smile come over her face as she took a second to let the warm liquid swish in her mouth; as the caffeine rejuvenated her body with a little more energy than she had before.

"Thanks for the coffee," she spoke while rubbing the back of her neck as it was sore and tender.

"No problem it's the least that I could do… Sakura-San I've been meaning to ask you, I know you talk a lot about Sarada being worried about you being gone so late, but what about your husband I'm sure he may be lonely or worried without you to?" Daichi asked after he took a sip of the steaming beverage.

"Eeh? Well he's been away for work… So it's been a little bit since I've spoken to him." she admitted as she looked off to the side; as she had missed him more so recently since he's been gone.

"Oh I see I'm sorry I didn't know," Daichi said as he looked at her putting the coffee cup down on the table.

"Its okay I know I don't really talk about him much, but it's been like this for a long time; so I guess you can say I'm kind of use to it... Plus I get to see him every couple of months," Sakura said while chuckling at Sasuke's typical nature.

"You shouldn't be!" Daichi said more firmly as he slammed a hand down on the table quickly grabbing her attention.

"Daichi-kun?" she responded unsure of his change in temper. Daichi looking at his hand as it was still very much on the table removed it as he tried to calm himself down before he spoke once again.

"I just mean if it were me, I wouldn't leave you alone months at a time like that," he added with a strangely serious face.

"That's sweet Daichi-kun, I'm sure your wife or girlfriend feels very lucky to have you think that way… As for me and my husband it just kind of works out." She responded back.

"I guess so… So how does Sarada feel with his absence? That can't be good on her consciousness?" Daichi spoke with out caution, as he was overly blunt in his question.

Sakura a little taken back by the personal question, didn't really want to answer as it was a little to private for her. "Daichi-kun that question?" she responded unsure if even he heard how it sounded.

"Oh Sakura-san I'm sorry…Wow I really must be tired I wasn't thinking, shall we go check on Mr. Ito," he said as he got up from the table right away.

"Sure.." Sakura said hesitantly as she followed suit.

 **Uchiha House**

The next morning as Sarada woke up bright and early after feeling the beam of sun shining through to her window. She got to work on getting dressed as she was more than excited to see her mother's reaction to Sasuke's unexpected return home.

"Ne papa… I was thinking we could bring Mama some food today when we go pick her up," She yelled out once she left her room after finally getting dressed for the day, however Sarada finding the house eerily quite as he didn't answer back to her comment. Decides to go over and check her parent's room first, as she saw their bedroom door was already cracked causing her to cautiously look inside to see if maybe he was still sleep.

"Papa?" she spoke as she turned on the light next since the room was still pretty dark even for her keen eyes, but surprisingly seeing Sasuke was already gone Sarada began to feel angry over him not saying a word to her before he left; especially after he had promised he was going to go with her to pick up Sakura.

 **Hokage's Office**

Elsewhere as Sasuke and Shikamaru walked into the Hokage's office; after Shikamaru was sent by Naruto personally to retrieve the Uchiha for him, Sasuke could see right away Naruto hard at work like before as he witnessed the Hokage's desk full of paperwork since he looked overly tired going through the stacks on his desk.

"Sasuke, I'm glad you could make it so early," Naruto said after Shikamaru shut the door leaving the two alone.

"How is Sakura and Sarada-chan this morning?" He asked next trying to make a little small talk before he got down to business.

"Their fine," He responded coldly as he didn't really want to talk about personal matters with him. Naruto a little annoyed by his short answer, shrugged his shoulders as he continued on with the reasoning for having Sasuke's presence requested.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a answer about yesterday and your next mission but I wanted to make sure I had the best one for you so …Here you are" he spoke before handing him some papers and documents.

"What is this for?" he asked unsure of him handing him the papers.

"It's your next mission… I honestly wanted you to take a break and spend some time with your family, but since you insisted on doing something this is a good mission for you. Something has been going on lately in the village, I've kept it mainly a secret between me and Shikamaru as of now, but there have been several reports from the hospital staff of a lot of sick patients going into the hospital more then usual … Normally this wouldn't be something I'd bother you with but, there is a concern that it could be something different than a typical cold or sickness… It could be something viral or something more sinister." Naruto spoke with a serious face while propping his elbows on his desk with his fingers intertwined.

"So you think someone is making people sick on purpose?" he added trying to understand his concern.

"Yes I know its different then when you were searching for Kaguya, but I'm sure if I have you and Sakura-chan looking into it, you can help me narrow it down without involving others because if it gets out it can only lead to total chaos… You understand." Naruto spoke.

"Understood," Sasuke said while putting up the papers.

"Oh and on another matter," he paused after getting up and walking over to him, "I wanted to invite you and Sakura and Sarada, to dinner tonight… It's really been to long since we've gotten together." He said with a wide face grin.

Sasuke looking back at him a little irritated by the request closed his eyes before he responded to his random invitation. "Is this an order?"

Naruto annoyed by the idea of Sasuke implying that he would use his power so corruptly, as to get him to go along; crossed his arms angrily before he looked toward his old teammate to counter towards the insinuation, "It wasn't, but yes now it is," he added while throwing a peace sign in front of his face, causing Sasuke to look at him with surprise over him making it a official order.

 **Hospital**

At the hospital as Sarada made her way into the doors of the large complex, she right away watched as the nurses greeted and waived to her since she was very much a regular face to the building being her mother's daughter.

"Sarada-chan, you've grown so much how are you?" a friendly nurse asked as she blushed over seeing the young preteen.

"Doing well Mrs. Izumi is my mama here?" She asked next since it would be the perfect opportunity for her to find out her whereabouts.

"Oh yes I saw her in her office, she should still be there are you bringing her a lunch?" She asked after pointing to the wrapped up box in Sarada's hand.

"Yes she didn't come home last night, so I wanted to make sure she had something to eat," Sarada responded while blushing.

"What a good daughter you are to do that for her, well hurry up and catch her I think she was going to do some testing today." Kazumi commented before walking away allowing Sarada to find Sakura without any further delay.

Sarada nodding to the nurse's words, rushed to see her mother since not only did she want to make sure she ate but also wanted her to know that Sasuke had come back home and she didn't want her to miss him. As she went down the hall however Sarada stopping just shy of her mother's office, heard a voice as she noticed another nearby office door was slightly cracked.

"I know I'm going to tell her tonight, I just have to wait for the right timing I'm going to make sure she stays late tonight… So that I have the chance to tell her," Daichi spoke as he was on the phone with someone privately.

"Huh? What is he up to?" Sarada thought after she had stopped once she recognized the man as being the one she had told her father about; since he had been spending a lot of extra time with her mother to the point she was concerned by his presence.

"Hey …SARADA?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for the feedback hopefully the story continues to peak everyone's interest, I have a lot planned out for this story, and there is a particular reason for Sasuke taking on more missions .**

 ** _Chapter 2_**

 **Hospital**

"Sarada?" Someone shouted causing the young kunoichi to startle at hearing her name being called out loud as she instantly felt fearful over being caught red handed ease dropping on Daichi's phone conversation.

"Yo! What are you doing?" Boruto suddenly asked after he walked up from behind her, with his hands casually in his pockets.

Sarada looking back at him immediately after he made his existence known, quickly put a finger up to her mouth as tried to shush him from speaking any further. Once she turned back around however Sarada checking in on her target, could see right away the pair's presence was noticed; as Daichi had been taken aback by the unannounced company.

"Hang on will you." He whispered into the phone before setting it down and walking over to his slightly opened door; as he purposely made it wider to acknowledge his uninvited guest.

"Sarada right?… How are you?" He asked with an overly cheerful grin; that had irked Sarada by his surprisingly joyful demeanor considering the circumstances.

"I'm…I'm fine… What were you talking about in there?" She decisively asked next especially now since there was no point in hiding that fact she had been listening in on his conversation; due to his suspicious words.

"That's not very nice to snoop you know… "He paused as he looked at her and to Boruto specifically. "But I wouldn't worry; it's just some outside stuff I needed to take care of… Are you looking for Sakura-San?" He asked her next to change the subject.

"Sakura-San?" Sarada questioned before she paused and lowered her gaze causing her eyeglasses to reflect varying shades of white "…You know it's not very proper to call her by her first name, you should really be calling her Mrs. Uchiha," She spoke more sternly while looking back at him as she deliberately made sure to chide him while she crossed her arms.

"Hey what's wrong with you?" Boruto whispered to her after putting a hand on her shoulder, as he wasn't sure why she had such a callous tone towards the unknown man.

"Ah I see?… Well you're definitely right about that, I did initially call your mother Mrs. Uchiha in the beginning, however since we've been working together so closely, Sakura-san is okay with me addressing her as such. Either way I have some business to attend to so you two have fun. Oh and Sarada… Say hello to your mother for me." Daichi spoke with a startlingly straight face, before slowly shutting the door in front of the teens ending the discussion.

Seeing Daichi shut the door in her face after the mini impromptu chat, Sarada aggravated with his response to her correction of him, was upsettingly annoyed as she looked back towards Boruto since he was the one that blew her cover. "What are you even doing here? I was trying to find out what he was up too," she scolded him while putting her hands angrily on her hips.

"Easy… I was here to pick up something for mom and I saw you back there, besides I needed to invite you and your family to dinner," he said while placing his hands behind his head.

"Dinner?" Sarada questioned by the odd proposition.

"Yeah it was my old mans idea or something, I'm just passing along the message from my mom... So what is up with you and this doctor anyway?" he asked next while giving her a cockeyed expression.

Sarada however looking back at Daichi's closed door after Boruto's question, as now whatever conversation he had been having was silent upon her ears; let out a sigh before readjusting the box lunch in her hand as she needed to get going soon. "Nothing don't worry about it, I have to go and find Mama but I'll ask her about the dinner thing… See you later." She added before taking off hastily.

Boruto watching her leave so unexpectedly, suspiciously looked at the door for the doctor's office as well; since he felt a little more then intrigued, by what she knew and what he was up too.

 **Sakura's office**

Further down the hallway as Sarada walked towards her mother's office more slowly after running originally to get there; she began to think about not only Daichi's response to her, but also her first encounter meeting and seeing the odd doctor.

 **Sarada's Flashback**

"Sarada this is Daichi-kun a brand new doctor here, he will be following me around for the next few weeks as he learns the workings of this hospital," Sakura introduced happily as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you I'm Uchiha Sarada desu…" Sarada spoke before she stopped to bow to the doctor making sure to greet him for the first time.

Once Sarada looked back up at the man, after she had raised her head from its bowed state; studying him more carefully Sarada found that even though she wasn't much for boys at her age, she still considered him to be decently handsome with his tall slender statured, dark brown hair and almost perfect smile that caused her to blush a bit at seeing his positive features.

"Ah so this is Sarada, I've heard a lot about you from your mother, what a pretty young lady… Almost as beautiful as her mother," Daichi said before looking back at Sakura to gauge her response.

"Eh? No I don't know about that… To be honest I think Sarada here is way more prettier than me, maybe that's the mom side of me kicking in… but she is definitely one of a kind," Sakura winked towards her daughter as she beamed at being so proud of her young lady in the making.

Sarada blushing at hearing her mother's praising of her, nervously pulled some hair back behind her ear, as she had felt the opposite of what her mother spoke; especially since she truly loved the unique features her mother had such as her emerald eyes and soft pink hair, Sarada truly wanted to be like her mother when she grew up as she felt she was the perfect woman.

"Don't be so modest, a mother's genes plays a big factor in a child's appearance just as much as the father's does, give yourself more credit…. You truly are beautiful." Daichi said while continuing to look at Sakura directly with an almost over serious expression; which caught Sarada off guard along with his sharp words.

"Well I guess if you think so." Sakura said jokingly while putting her closed up fist up to her mouth to hide her chuckle, as she seemed to not take the comment to seriously.

"Oh I almost forgot I have to grab something for another nurse before I leave, so why don't you two chat a little bit and I'll be right back." Sakura spoke to the pair before she took off in a hurry.

Sarada nodding her head back to her mother, while she watched Daichi eyeing her fixatingly as she ran off, felt her eye twitch warningly as something seemed a little odd about the new man and his questionable manner.

" You know Papa and Mama have been together a long time, since they were kids even." She added in to make sure he was aware she was a married woman.

"Yes I know… I actually met your mother once when we were children, I don't think she remembers me though but I remember her." Daichi said in a reminiscent voice.

"Eh? You knew mama that long ago?" Sarada asked as she was more then surprised to hear it.

"Yes she's a wonderful woman your mother is, though I recall at the time your father didn't pay much attention or show interest in her at least the way I saw it. So I'll admit I'm surprised she ended up with him in the end." He spoke carelessly while keeping his eyes away from Sarada's.

Sarada scrunching her face at him almost bad mouthing her father, was shocked to hear him say such a thing especially to her of all people. However seeing him turn to face her finally, Sarada watched as his face quickly changed to an apologetic one as he waived his hands around frantically.

"Ah Gomen I don't mean anything malicious by that, I'm sure he's a good man to her… Anyway I need to go you'll be okay waiting for your mother right?" he asked before walking past her. Sarada watching him walk away had an upset face, as she definitely didn't like something about him.

 **End Sarada's Flashback**

As she remembered her first meeting with Daichi along with this most recent one which wasn't much better, Sarada found even more now then before she was really starting to hate the man; as she felt his presence was beyond threatening along with his behavior being abnormal.

Once Sarada made her way finally to her mother's office, opening the unlocked door before turning on the dark light she worriedly found her mother wasn't in the room either, as she felt bad for missing her.

"…Mama"

 **Outside**

Elsewhere as Sasuke walked outside after leaving Naruto's office with the papers he was given in hand, looking over a few of the documents. Sasuke could tell quickly that Naruto truly did have a reason to be concerned about the village; based on the sheer number of patients being omitted into the hospital as of recently.

Seeing that in the past few months the numbers dramatically seemed to double exponentially from the first occurrence, Sasuke wanting to get right to work with his investigation of the matter took out his own separate piece of small paper; as he stopped walking momentarily in order to write a note addressed directly to Sakura.

Taking Naruto's suggestion of getting Sakura involved after he recalled Sarada's comment about her working late more recently, Sasuke wanting to get her opinion on the matter finished his note quickly before taking his thumb to the corner of his mouth in order to summon one of his hawks using Kuchiyose no Jutsu.

However before Sasuke could complete the summoning as he stopped just shy of biting his digit, he suddenly remembered another part of his conversation with Sarada a little later after her addressing her concern about her mother.

 **Sasuke's Flashback**

"I'll be home for a couple of days," Sasuke spoke after he noticed Sarada seemed to be a bit worried.

"Really? Do you think that maybe we can go pick up mama tomorrow, and go somewhere together." Sarada asked hoping to have him promise to the arrangement.

Sasuke looking at his daughter making almost a puppy dog like face found saying anything other than what she wanted to hear hard as her face was one he didn't want to disappoint.

"Sure." He said as he rubbed his neck at being guilted into saying yes

 **End Sasuke's Flashback**

Sasuke thinking about his promise to Sarada as he had assured her he would take her and Sakura out after picking her up from work; closed his eyes for a few seconds while he lowered his thumb before he decides to destroy his hand written note before, he turned around to head off in the opposite direction.

 **Hospital**

Walking down the hall of the hospital after passing by several nurses saying hello to her, Sakura making her way back to her office found her hand reaching for her throbbing head; as it began to hurt at looking resignedly over some paper work as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

"I just don't get it Mr Ito was making such a good recovery; I don't understand how he could just go critical and pass away like that." She thought somberly over losing her patient that she had fought so hard to keep alive.

While she thought and continued walking without looking at her surroundings however Sakura feeling an unmoving object run into her quickly caught her attention as she dropped her papers due to running into someone directly.

"So…sorry," she said frantically as she bent down to grab the flying papers.

"Sakura-san! I'm sorry it's my fault… Here let me help you." Daichi said after frantically trying to pick up the papers since he two didn't pay attention; as he had rushed out of his office without looking.

While Daichi helped Sakura pick up the scattered documents from the ground, the pair both reaching for the same one as their hands touched together; caused Daichi to abruptly stop as he looked directly into Sakura's green eyes in response.

"Daichi-kun?… Are you okay?" Sakura suddenly asked as he seemed to stair back at her without moving his hand.

"Yeah I'm fine …Sorry." He spoke hesitantly while removing his hand from hers, as the two stood back up on their feet. "Sakura-san where were you coming from?" he quickly asked as he straightened up his lab coat nervously while looking around.

"I was just looking at some results for Mr Ito," she responded in a sad manner.

"I'm sorry we couldn't save him," Daichi spoke as he tried to comfort her.

"We did what we could for him, I know he's gone but I won't give up so we can help others." She spoke as she tried to shake off the saddening news. Daichi smiling back at her resilience quickly locked his door behind him before turning towards her again.

"So you haven't been to your office yet have you?" he questioned after putting his key into his pocket.

"No, not yet I was just heading that way… Why?" she asked since he seemed to be a little perkier then before.

"It's just… Could you come with me a second, there is something I wanted to ask you…But in private?" he spoke causing her to tilt her head at his offer.

 **Sakura's office**

Elsewhere while Sarada waited in her mother's office for a few minutes more to see if she would eventually show up, seeing the door knob finally begin to turn; Sarada felt a mild spurt of excitement rise and fall as Boruto was at the door instead of her mother.

"Oh Boruto you again, what are you.." She started to say before he interrupted her.

"Sarada I just saw your Mom leave with that doctor from earlier; he said he had to speak to her about something." He added with a concerned face.

 **Boruto's Flashback**

"Could you come with me a second there is something I wanted to ask you…But in private?" Daichi asked as he waited for Sakura to respond.

"Sure Daichi-kun, but I really need to get this to my office first… Do you want to hang on a moment and then we can go." She said before she began to walk away, however Daichi grabbing at her upper arm quickly stopped her in her tracks as he tugged a little on her arm to get her attention.

"Sorry it can't really wait, just come with me outside a moment…Please." He reasked after letting go of her.

"Sure?" Sakura finally said as he motioned for her to come along with him, after ushering her in the opposite direction of her office.

Boruto watching the interaction from afar between the two, as he had secretly stayed behind after his encounter with Sarada; felt as bothered as she had seemed to be by the doctor; especially because he was aware that Sarada was looking for Sakura.

"I better go tell her." He thought to himself as he quickly took off in search for Sarada.

 **End Boruto's Flashback**

"That's what happened?"Sarada questioned after hearing Boruto's account of the situation, causing her initial surprised expression to quickly turn into a rage filled one, since Daichi knew she had been looking for her mother the entire time.

"Where did they go?" She asked next before the two shortly ran out of the room.

 **Outside hospital**

While Sakura and Daichi walked down the hall leading to one of the hospital entrance doors, as their shoes echoed throughout the building, Daichi leading Sakura to the outside made sure to hold the door open for her; as he tried to make light conversation before the two were finally soon alone together.

"You know Sakura-san thanks again for last night, I'm really sorry about my harsh words from before …It wasn't my place to judge what you and your husband do," He spoke somberly as he seemed very apologetic.

"It's okay I really I think everyone has just been a little on edge… especially with all these new cases lately." She spoke while crossing her arms in frustration.

"Yes it's defiantly odd, even in Mr Ito's case he was doing so much better yet he made a dramatic turn for the worse." Daichi added while placing a hand under his chin.

"Yes I just can't figure out why?" Sakura questioned before seeing Daichi suddenly stop causing her to do the same.

"Listen Sakura-san, the reason I bought you out here is…" Daichi spoke


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter** **3**

 **Inside The Hospital**

"Are you sure they went this way?" Sarada asked Boruto after she followed closely behind him, while the two ran throughout the hospital together in search of Sarada's mother and the strange doctor Daichi.

"I'm sure they turned down this way... Come on before we lose them," Boruto reassured her as the duo avoided running into the passing by bodies; since the hall was filled with patients and nurses moving about.

As the twosome ran with a purpose after they turned down the next hallway, Boruto and Sarada seeing a rarely used entrance way within their sights rushed forward as they went through the hospital doors, finally allowing them access to the outside.

 **Outside The Hospital**

After the two had come to an abrupt halt, with their feet sliding into the dirt after their forceful run; Boruto and Sarada catching Daichi and Sakura embracing in a hug with one another almost intimately, caused Sarada's eyes to shrink in pure panic as she didn't understand the sudden overwhelming closeness.

Boruto looking on as well in confusion at the unexpected sight, turned towards Sarada next to ask what she thought of the interaction. However finding himself freeze at seeing Sarada's upset reaction, as she had pulled up a hand to cover her mouth in disbelief watching the pair. Boruto understanding Sarada's perspective after seeing her shocked expression; gritted his teeth frustratingly as he knew he needed to step in, and put a stop to the contact without any further delay.

Acting on impulse despite him not having a major planned out move, Boruto taking a kunai from his side suddenly had an idea to throw it in between Daichi and Sakura; as he wanted to not only force the two of them apart with the distraction, but also in particular scare Daichi away from her. As Boruto gave himself a running head start before he began to act out his undeveloped plan, finding himself without warning trip up on a hidden rock in his hurry to take action. The young ninja falling down to the ground while he had thrown his weapon, found he had greatly miscalculated his throw as the kunai had flown out of his hand without his proper control.

"Watch out!" He yelled immediately after losing his tool; as he needed to give Sakura advance warning.

Sakura reacting to Boruto's forewarning as she quickly pushed Daichi out of the way; just like Boruto had anticipated from a top shinobi. Watched on next in horror since the unexpectedness of his attack, left Sakura unable to fully dodge the weapon cleanly as it struck her hand causing her to drop her papers yet again, as the kunai caused a decent sized mark.

"Boruto!" Sarada called out after seeing what had happened, since she was shocked by him hitting her mother's hand with the device.

Sakura kneeling down to the ground while she held tightly onto her injured hand, tried to apply pressure to the minimal wound; as she was relieved to only be grazed by the object, since someone else could have been easily hurt.

"Ah… I'm so," Boruto tried to say, before feeling Sarada push him out of the way as she ran up to check on her mother.

"Mama… Are you?" she asked after getting closer to her.

"What is going on with you two?" Sakura asked over their unexpected appearance, causing Sarada to stop before she nervously looked down at her feet; at feeling bad about her mother getting hurt since their true intentions were keeping Daichi away from her. However Sakura seeing Sarada's worried face before she looked back at her own hand, tried to console her daughter as it wasn't a serious wound especially for a medic ninja such as herself.

"Daijobu Sarada, it's only a scratch, what's wrong why are you here?" She asked next while holding onto her daughter's shoulder in order for her to look back at her in the eyes.

"You didn't come home last night…I was worried and.." Sarada started to say before hearing Daichi unexpectedly interrupt their conversation.

"Sakura-san shall I take a look at your hand." He offered as he tried to reach for her, however the moment he was close enough Sarada on instinct of protecting her mother, slapped his hand away causing not only him but Sakura to look on in confusion over her unforeseen attack.

"Sarada?" Sakura shouted in surprise, as she was shocked by her reaction to Daichi's help.

"You… Don't touch her, you knew I was looking for her and you took her away… I knew you were up to something." She accused while she looked back at him angrily.

Sakura dismayed by her daughter's behavior towards another grown adult, stood up as she grabbed on to her wrist to get her attention right away. "Hey stop it now, I'm sorry about not coming home but that's no way to talk to him, he was just telling me something." She tried to explain to defuse the situation.

"What were you talking about and why are you hugging a married woman?" Sarada asked inquisitively as she tried to analyze his reaction and answer to her question.

"Sorry Sakura-san, I didn't mean to cross any lines or cause trouble," Daichi paused while looking at Sakura, before he turned his attention to Sarada. "... I was just telling your mother some exciting news… I'm going to propose to my longtime girlfriend at her work," he admitted with a smile.

"Girl?… friend?" Sarada questioned as she hadn't anticipated the answer, since she had assumed that he was single.

"See Sarada everything is okay, I was just congratulating him," Sakura said to reassure her further, since she still didn't understand her actions towards him.

Sarada looking at her mother before she looked back at Daichi after his confession of what happened, felt expectedly bad about accusing him of something that she didn't have proof over. However despite him revealing the truth that he had an intended other; Sarada still having a bad feeling about him couldn't put her finger on what it was that made her continue to stay on edge about him.

"Hey Sarada is that your… Dad?" Boruto suddenly spoke up interrupting Sarada's thought as both her, Boruto and Sakura were surprised to see Sasuke slowly walking up towards the small group.

"Eh!? Papa…" Sarada called out loudly next before feeling even more embarrassed by his arrival over such a scene.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said in shock, before she had a relieved smile come across her face next over his sudden unannounced appearance.

While she watched Boruto and Sarada begin running over to speak to him directly after he had gotten a little closer, Sakura quickly turning back around towards Daichi; bowed her head to him next, as she tried to seek apology from him for wanting to stop their discussion right there, in order to join the children in speaking with Sasuke as well.

"Sorry Daichi-kun could you give me a few minutes?" she asked while holding up her hands to show how sympathetic she was to leave in the middle of their conversation; especially after what had transpired.

"Uhmm… Sure, "Daichi responded hesitantly before he bent down to grab the papers once again, that had fallen from Boruto's earlier attack.

Sakura taking the papers from him while she had felt embarrassed over him helping her out yet again, found herself suddenly wince in pain after grabbing the documents since she had used her hurt hand forgetfully to take them from him. Daichi catching her pained expression right away as he paused for a moment after the exchange, reached into his pocket next grabbing a handkerchief as he ripped the cloth in his mouth before wrapping up her injured hand as he expertly tied it tightly. Sakura appreciative of him helping her out as she gave him a warm smile, wanted to leave him on a positive note before she spoke to her husband; especially since she felt excited for her colleague's impending proposal that she wanted to hear more about later.

"Daichi-kun Thank you… and Congratulations," she spoke before finally walking away as she made her way over to greet Sasuke after his long time away.

While Daichi initially kept his smile after Sakura had spoken to him directly, watching her walk over to Sasuke with a beaming smile even he hadn't seen before; caused him to change his demeanor as he clinched his fist tightly before his face changed to disgust as he turned to walk away.

Sakura looking back at Sasuke for the first time in months, as she finally got to see her husband face to face, felt her heart begin to flutter at him equally staring back at her; since she enjoyed her husband's eyes as they were a familiar endless shade of black.

"Sasuke-kun, when did you get back?" She finally asked softly after breaking the mini silence.

"…He actually got in last night I've been wanting to tell you but we never got a chance too really talk," Sarada responded on his behalf sadly, since she had wanted them to see each other again on better circumstances.

"Don't make such a face," Sakura spoke to her after noticing how apprehensive she still seemed to be.

"Sasuke-kun, Gomen ne I wasn't there last night… Welcome back," She responded with a continued smile causing Sasuke to return the gesture with his own signature smile he showed only really to his family.

Sarada relieved to see the friendly exchange between her parents, began to feel more at ease to have them together once again; especially since the time they spent apart troubled her deep down inside, even despite her knowing of their unique bond. While Sarada continued to breathe an easy sigh at having her father's presence there with her mother, turning to check on Daichi next, she noticed right away that he had already disappeared as if almost out of nowhere; making her feel strained with him conveniently taking off after her father had just arrived.

As she continued to look for the troublesome doctor however, feeling a hand back on her arm causing her to look back; Sarada could see her mother staring at her sternly catching her attention as she had something to say to her personally. "Sarada… I know you may have meant well earlier, but tomorrow you need to go apologize too Daichi-kun… Do you understand?" Sakura demanded more with her firm scolding look.

"…And as for you Boruto, you need to apologize as well. You could have seriously hurt someone and you need to be more careful… Those tools aren't a toy, even if we're outside this is still a hospital… understand." She reprimanded him secondly causing both children to lower their heads at causing problems.

"Yes." Both replied simultaneously in the same lowered voice and tone. However Sarada looking down at her boxed up lunch, quickly remembered her reasoning for coming to the hospital in the first place as she needed to deliver it to her mother.

"Sorry mama, I almost forgot…Here I made you a lunch." She spoke after handing Sakura the wrapped box.

Sakura continuing to show her strictness over Sarada, as she tried to be unyielding towards her daughter like a good parent; unexpectedly felt her stomach growling next after being offered the food, causing her cheeks to flush at everyone openly hearing the rumbling noise of her stomach; as Boruto, Sarada and even Sasuke made a strange face after hearing the noise. Sakura soon lowering her own head similar to the children after covering up her stomach chuckled uncontrollably in response, since she found like always she wasn't able to stay mad at Sarada; especially after she thoughtful brought her a lunch to work to which she was extremely great full for.

"Thank you Sarada-chan," She said humbly to her reliable daughter, as she had been dyeing to get some food and having Sarada bringing it to her despite all that had happened was still impeccable timing.

"Ne…Papa weren't you going to ask mama something? " Sarada asked next as she looked past her mother, to make direct eye contact with him hoping he was going to remember their conversation from the day before.

"Ah…" he finally spoke as he seemed to remember causing, Sarada to get excited over hearing him ask her mother to walk home together. However seeing her father pull out some papers from inside his cloak instantly changed her reaction as he seemed to have different plans.

"I need to speak to you about a mission." He said causing Sarada to fall down at the unfamiliar statement as it definitely wasn't what they had discussed.

"Papa but you…" She spoke before he abruptly stopped her.

"You two go wait for us inside give us a minute," he demanded in a more serious tone as the two uncertain of his order at first, followed without fighting back due to them both not wanting to see if he had a temper or a bad side. Sakura watching the children leaving per her husband's order took a seat on a nearby public bench as she looked at Sasuke once again; since he didn't hide the fact that he wanted to speak to her alone.

"So Sasuke-kun how have you been?" She asked while she opened up the lunch Sarada gave her, to check what she had made.

"I've taken on another mission today… Here," He added while handing her his papers. Sakura not saying a word as she sat the lunch on her lap; looked over the documents as she reviewed them quickly.

"I see so it's not a coincidence then, Naruto knows something is going on to." She spoke almost to herself after flipping through the papers.

"Yes as it stands only you, Naruto and Shikamaru know about this…What do you make of it?" he asked while looking at her with his continued signature expression. Sakura handing back the information to him first, before she took apart some chopsticks as she began to scoop up some of Sarada's food, spoke honestly as she didn't have any answers for him which caused her much frustration.

"I'm not sure to be honest... Everyone at the hospital have been putting in long hours lately with all the patients that have been coming in…" she paused before putting her chopsticks up to her mouth after taking a bite of food.

"Is that so?..." He responded with intrigue.

"Umm... I'm worried about not only the patients but the new cases that keep coming in, if we don't figure it out something soon I'm afraid we'll start having catastrophic casualties… and with me being gone so much now, I think that its really starting to affect Sarada," She admitted while looking away, since she knew she was the primary reason of blame.

"I just can't believe she would act that way towards another adult, Daichi-kun was only trying to help." She added while prepping her next bite.

"Daichi?" Sasuke asked as he hadn't heard the name before.

"Yes, Daichi is a new colleague who's been helping me with all these new cases lately… Which has really been perfect timing... Oh let me introduce him to you. .. He's right... Over there?... " she spoke while turning to point him out, however Sakura seeing he was nowhere to be found; caused her to stop abruptly since she hand't realized when he had left.

Sasuke looking on as well as he had seen the man only briefly off in the distance before his disappearance, looked to Sakura again as he kept their private conversation short, "Let me know what you find, I'm going to try and do a little research," he spoke before seeing Sakura standing up after closing up her food.

"Of course anything to help … Sasuke-kun," She paused for a moment. "It's good to see you." she added surprisingly in a weak voice before turning to walk away, however Sasuke seeing her leaving after his comment moved quickly as he pulled on her wrist forcing her to whip around into his chest while he wrapped his arm around her.

Sakura's eyes lowering over the surprise movement from her husband, closed them tightly next as she embraced the long needed contact from him since she had craved it terribly. "Sasuke-kun..." She spoke almost into his chest, as his hand moved up to hold onto the back of her head.

"What's wrong?" he asked her quietly while looking straight ahead; since he had known her long enough now, to tell when something was bothering her no matter how strong she tried to act.

"I…I lost a patient today." She admitted more somberly as it still bothered her that she wasn't able to save him despite what she had told Daichi.

 **So that's it for chapter 3 we finally have Sasuke and Sakura together in the chapter for the first time. Daichi is definitely suspicious but there will be a lot more of him and Sasusaku team work. Hopefully I'll get chapter 4 up by next Friday, I've been having some computer issue but i should be able to get it posted thanks again for the feedback hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for any confusion on the last chapter about Sakura healing herself, so just speaking briefly, the mind frame of Sakura is to comfort her daughter and address the situation; she could definitely heal her wounds its more so she forgot because it wasn't that bad or important at the time. Hopefully that clears things up a bit.**

 **There will be plenty of Sasusaku interaction I'm not as cruel as Kishimoto lol and of course plenty of Boruto and Sarada too… Actually there is a lot to come so this is turning into a pretty intense story. *** Also sorry for any editing errors still having computer issues so I had to post this chapter from my phone I'll do my best to fix them if there is any.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Inside the Hospital**

As Sarada and Boruto waited inside the hospital for Sarada's parents to return like they were told to, Boruto not being one to take orders very well became antsier on having to wait on the pair; especially since he wasn't even suppose to be there at the hospital, for as long as he had been in the first place. Breathing loudly in annoyance over wanting to leave, Boruto turning back towards Sarada tried to voice his concern that he now no longer had a reason to linger around any further since everything seemed to be okay.

"Look I'm going to go home now." He finally spoke, before he noticed Sarada staring outside from the hospital door attentively.

Sarada overly focused on watching her parents from afar, as they seemed to be in a deep hug of their own; felt better about seeing their interaction with one another over the one she had witnessed between her mother and Daichi just a few minutes before.

"Well…bye…" Boruto said, after he saw he was being openly ignored by her, based on her lack of response to his comment.

Turning to leave after he shrugged his shoulders however the young ninja feeling something pulling on the back of his jacket collar next, forced him to stop quickly as he turned around once again; to see that Sarada was the culprit as she looked as if she didn't want him to leave just yet.

"…Wait… Boruto," she spoke after she had gained his full attention.

"Heh? What now?" He asked as he was unsure of why she had stopped him.

"I need your help… I want to find out more about that doctor… Daichi," She said while she looked at him with a serious expression.

 **Outside the Hospital**

Still standing outside of the hospital with Sasuke after speaking with him privately, Sakura finally pushing away from his chest after he had pulled her into a consoling hug, felt relieved to have him there despite her feeling extremely weary physically and mentally over all of her hard work she had been putting in as of late.

"Sasuke-kun, you should go do your research now… I can take care of dinner tonight with Sarada…We'll be fine." She spoke before looking up at him with a forced smile.

However finding Sasuke's hand reach up for her forehead as he poked it affectionately, caused Sakura to blush madly while she put a hand up to her head in surprise over the unforeseen gesture.

"I can work on it later, get your things… I've actually come here for you and Sarada… Let's go." He spoke with a gentle smile and calming eyes.

"EH?! Really?" Sakura let out as she was puzzled to have him not only poke her head in a semipublic area, but also come personally to her work too pick her up.

"O…okay, ha…han..hang on… " She found herself stutter as she still couldn't believe what was happening as it didn't seem real or within his character.

Sasuke watching her rush inside over his action, before he looked down at his own hand; began to wonder if he had been asking too much of his wife, based solely from her over stunned reaction of him simply picking her up.

 **Inside the hospital**

"Sarada… We should just drop it… You heard him, he has a girlfriend or whatever so what are you worried about now?" Boruto asked since he still wanted to go home.

"Maybe you right… But I still have a bad feeling about him, so I was thinking tomorrow we should do as my mother asked of us and apologize…But let's do a little searching on him at the same time … Deal." She spoke in a whispering voice, since the two weren't alone with people and workers openly walking by.

"What do I get out of all of this?" he asked next since he wasn't convinced to go along with her plan just yet.

Sarada sighing at his continued unwillingness even after what he had already witnessed with Daichi sneakily ushering her mother away, shook her head before she took out one of her hands to initiate a handshake as she was willing to make a deal with him.

"Boruto…If you help me then I'll do your homework for a week." She offered while she paused to measure his response to her negotiation.

However Boruto looking back at her with a raised eyebrow; as he seemed to not be nearly satisfied with this deal, caused Sarada to breathe out an even heavier sigh as she tried to sweeten the deal for her own sake.

"… and I'll help you with a prank on your dad… Do we have an agreement?" She reoffered as she waited for him to either accept or decline.

Boruto looking up for a bit as he didn't answer her right away, had a sly smile soon appear before extending his own hand out as he approved of their pact.

As the two shook their hands together after coming to an agreement, Boruto liking the idea of Sarada helping him out with a prank on his dad; actually would have accepted her offer earlier since he too admittedly felt bothered by the doctor and was extremely curious to see what they could find on him and what he's up to.

While the duo smiled to one another after the deal was made, Sarada seeing the door suddenly open behind them let go of Boruto's hand quickly; as she watched her mother rushing in an almost frantic manner causing her to feel uneasy. "What's wrong?" She asked confused by her unrecognizable scattered demeanor.

"You're papa…Is actually here to come get us," Sakura paused as she felt her cheeks blush over telling Sarada the great news.

"Do you want to come with me to get my things?" she asked next after not being able to hide her girlish giggle over her excitement of the rare occasion.

Sarada elated at hearing her father stepping up with his promise to her, while she too had a wide grin appear just like her mother; found herself glancing back outside of the clear door as she saw her father standing outside waiting for the pair.

"Alright papa." Sarada thought next to herself, before feeling Boruto grabbing her shoulder getting her attention.

"Well I better get going, so you were coming to our house tonight for dinner?" Boruto asked Sarada since Sakura was there as well.

"Dinner?" Sakura questioned while looking to Sarada for an explanation.

"Oh…With the Hokage's family did you want to go mama, I know you've been working a lot." Sarada asked as she looked at her with a little worry for her busy schedule.

"Its fine Sarada, that sounds great Boruto, tell your mother we'll be there. Sarada lets not keep your papa waiting shall we go," she spoke next as she needed to grab some things from her office with Sarada's help first.

"Umm." Sarada nodded to her mother before seeing her walk past her and Boruto, however Sarada lagging behind her mother on purpose looked back towards Boruto again as she eyed him deliberately.

"See you later …" She spoke before getting closer to him, "Don't forget tomorrow." She whispered even quieter as he nodded his head in response, before they went their separate ways.

 **Outside**

After waiting outside for several minutes on his family to return, Sasuke soon leaving the hospital together with Sakura and Sarada; kept the second part of his promise to his daughter, as he took the pair to get ice cream before they made their way home.

Sasuke not being one for sweets as he didn't partake in the cold dessert like the girls did, was happy nonetheless watching them enjoy themselves as they both seemed excited over eating the sweet treat along with being out as a family.

Once the trio continued their walk home together as a complete unit, Sarada more focused on eating her ice cream cone contently, walked a bit faster intentionally keeping a good distance between her and her parents; so they could speak with one another privately.

"Sasuke-kun, thank you for coming to get me and Sarada–chan today," Sakura spoke happily before having a sudden big yawn come out, since she hadn't slept from working the night before.

Sasuke seeing just how drained she was after she rubbed her eyes sleepily, closed his own eyes in response for a second before he reacted to her comment first, "Don't thank me just yet… " he spoke causing her to look back at him confused by his meaning.

"You need to rest up today… and tomorrow… let's go out together." He spoke next while keeping his eyes away from hers once he finally opened them back up.

Sakura stopping in her tracks at him asking her out all of the sudden, while he and Sarada continued to walk on without her; stood still for a few seconds longer before finding her lips curl up happily, while she tried to keep her composure after catching up with Sasuke.

"So… Sasuke-kun, is this going to be like a date?" She asked next while trying to catch his expression as she eyed him playfully.

However Sasuke not answering her question, due to her begging for a reply with her inquisitive look, began to walk even faster as his pace increased with that of Sarada's leaving Sakura behind yet again.

"Hey… Wait for me!" She spoke frantically after seeing him leave her behind, making her chuckle at the fact that this part of his character stayed very much the same.

 **Uchiha House**

Once the Uchiha family returned home after their walk back together, Sakura needing to unwind from her long overnight hours of work; exhaustingly made her way to her bedroom first. Before heading to her bathroom in order to take a nice hot relaxing shower and a much needed nap, before needing to meet with the Uzumaki family for dinner later that night since she had just enough time to do so.

Sarada also walking into her parents' bedroom shorty after Sakura went into the bathroom, placed her mother's medical bag on her bed next; since she had helped her retrieve it from her office earlier. However while she laid the bag down Sarada noticing it was much heavier and larger than she had ever seen before, looked on as the new size and weight indicated for her that her mother had planned on doing work from home despite her father's return.

As Sarada made her way back into the living room after dropping off her mother's things, seeing her father putting down some of his own paper work as he sat on the couch; caused her to feel more apprehensive with her parents constant need to work, since it meant yet again there time spent together would be shortened greatly.

Sarada however having another idea as she began to hear the sound of the shower running in the background, walked up to her father grabbing his attention from starting his work.

"Papa...Mama needed to speak to you about something … and I actually needed to go to Chōchō's to pick up something, so I'll be back a little later… Okay" she said letting him know openly that she would be gone from the house.

Sasuke looking back to his daughter before seeing she had already shut the door behind herself, found himself a bit unsure by her need to inform him she was leaving; especially since she hand never needed to disclose it to him before.

 **Sasuke's and Sarada's Flashback**

Sasuke standing outside of the hospital, while he patiently waited for Sarada and Sakura to return so the three could walk home together. Watched next as the door opened up revealing Sarada, whom had rushed out towards him while holding onto her mother's bag, since she seemed to want to speak with him right away before Sakura came outside as well.

"Sorry for the wait Mama is on her way, she's just finishing up some things… Papa I just wanted to say thank you for picking up mama...She seems really happy about it…" Sarada said before turning around to see Sakura still talking to another nurse through the transparent doors.

However Sarada watching her mother let out a yawn in the middle of her conversation with the nurse; caused her to knit her eyebrows at seeing the results of her mother being overworked, as it was made painfully obvious.

Sarada looking back at her father next after she admitted to him that her mother seemed extremely happy with him picking her up, looked at him nervously as she wondered if he too was aware of how tired she had truly been especially since she wasn't one to complain.

"Papa… mama has been really exhausted lately, so I know she needs a good rest tonight. So I was wondering …Why don't you take her out tomorrow night just the two of you," Sarada said hoping he would take the advice.

Sasuke looking back at his daughter after her suggestion since he knew she had a point, after seeing for himself just how fatigued she had looked in the little bit of time they were speaking with each other. Normally didn't do things others had advised of him before but seeing how happy Sakura was with him coming to pick her up, Sasuke felt he needed to do a bit more for his wife as a husband especially due to them being apart a lot of the time.

As he thought about this without answering Sarada, Sasuke seeing Sakura coming out of the doors next watched her waive happily to them both before finally meeting up with the two.

 **End Sasuke's and Sarada's Flashback**

Sasuke thinking back to his and Sarada's conversation earlier, after walking into his and Sakura's shared bedroom. Could see right away Sarada had obviously lied to him about Sakura wanting to speak with him after hearing the shower running from the bathroom.

Quickly understanding what she was trying to accomplish by leaving the house so abruptly as it was beyond crystal clear. Sasuke also recognizing Sarada's now constant attempts at getting him and Sakura alone, felt concerned by her need to force them together; since perceptibly something bigger was bothering her that he would need to figure out and soon.

 **Outside**

While Sarada also remembered back to her earlier chat with her father after she walked aimlessly outside. Observing the various people shopping around after she had entered into a nearby shopping area, caused Sarada to come to a sudden halt after witnessing a young couple looking for jewelry at a nearby stand together.

Sarada surprised by how cute the twosome seemed to be while watching them diligently as they stood out easily among the ever changing crowd. The young kunoichi could see even from her distance from them that they seemed to be deeply in love; as the man blushed madly while his female partner held onto his arm tightly; making Sarada a little envious of the lovey dovey pair.

"I wonder if papa and mama were ever like that?" she thought to herself next before she suddenly remembered back to Daichi's comment next.

 **Sarada's Flashback**

"You know Papa and Mama have been together a long time, since they were kids even." She spoke to Daichi after speaking to him while her mother left momentarily.

"Yes I know… I actually met your mother once when we were children, I don't think she remembers me though but I remember her." Daichi said in a reminiscent voice.

"Eh? You knew mama that long ago?" Sarada asked as she was more than surprised to hear it.

"Yes she's a wonderful woman your mother is, though I recall at the time your father didn't pay much attention or show interest in her at least the way I saw it. So I'll admit I'm surprised she ended up with him in the end." He spoke carelessly while keeping his eyes away from Sarada's

 **End Sarada's Flashback**

Scrunching up her face for a few moments after recalling Daichi's callous words about her parents as they still strangely lingered in the back of her head, Sarada not wanting to let doubt of her parents relationship trouble her mind, tried to snap herself out of her dangerous thoughts; since even she knew that their love wasn't a conventional one like everyone else's.

Keeping positive as she kept this fact in mind, Sarada checking back on the young couple once again since they had been looking specifically at wedding rings; found her eyes suddenly shake in surprise after seeing Daichi of all people unexpectedly, as she was unaware he had been standing behind the couple until after they finally left.

Sarada reacting in swift reaction to his presence as she found a nearby place to hide behind so that he wouldn't spot her, watched him questionably from afar as he seemed to be focused on looking at various rings as well; causing her interest to peak especially since this was the first time seeing him outside of the hospital.

"I wonder..." she thought to herself after, before watching him finally picking up a ring to show too the merchant for purchase as he grabbed his wallet.

"It can't be…Could he have been telling the truth?" she thought next while watching him cautiously.

 **Thanks for reading I'll most likely do some editing here and there.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So as an extra Christmas treat I'm posting this chapter up early, This one is shorter than previous chapters however I still plan on posting Chapter 6 later this week, I may do some more editing on this one but hopefully it's enjoyable**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Uchiha house**

Sasuke standing in his and Sakura's shared room; as a result of Sarada purposely arranging for the pair to be left alone together after she had left the house hastily. Lowered his own gaze slowly while eyeing the source of Sarada's worry, after seeing for himself Sakura's bag lying on the bed; since it was filled to the brim with various papers and notes, she had brought home with her from work.

 **Sasuke's Flashback**

"Papa… Mama has been really exhausted lately …She needs a good rest tonight." Sarada commented while looking down, causing Sasuke too acknowledge the beginning of her abnormal reaction.

 **End Sasuke's flashback**

Thinking back to Sarada's uneasiness even then too Sakura's condition, while Sasuke stared at the bathroom next as the steam from the running shower began to seep out from the visible gap below the door. Could now fully comprehend his daughter's unspoken request for him, as he figured out quickly she had planned to use him as a distraction for Sakura, in order to finally take her mind away from work.

Sasuke however coughing into his hand nervously, as he contemplated why his daughter knew way too much about the intimate side of adult relationships, nonetheless reached up for his collar next, before he slowly undid the button clasp of his signature cloak; making sure to drape it on the bed as he soon worked his way towards the smaller room.

Sakura standing on the other side of the door, as she quickly got into the shower once it was hot and ready for her. Instantly let out a soothing moan feeling the intermittent streams of warm liquid move down her body, as it nourished her craving skin causing Sakura next to close her eyes happily while she felt relieved over the calming nature of the aquatic fluid.

Sakura reaching for the soap next before she slowly began to lather herself up while turning her back towards the shower head in order to let her hair receive the same treatment as her skin. Soon felt an unanticipated jolt to her chest as her eyes snapped opened; at hearing the sound of the bath curtain pulling back, revealing her naked exposed frame as she tried to cover herself up on instinct alone.

However finding herself initially speechless by the unforeseen intrusion as the culprit was revealed right after, the startled kunoichi soon felt her irritation melt away; as she was pleasantly surprised to see Sasuke standing in front of her undressed before stepping in the shower to join her himself.

"Sasuke-kun…?" Sakura spoke in reaction before she felt his hand snake around her waist pulling her in closer to him causing her to gasp in response.

Sakura blushing at his concentrated look into her eyes, as like always they were stern yet firm; caused her to look away slightly; since this was the first time the pair shared a shower together making Sakura a little anxious.

"What about Sarada?" she thought to ask, since she worried her daughter would come looking for the both of them in their now compromised state.

However Sasuke more concerned with seeing her gaze shift away over his action than the words she spoke; as he watched her cheeks flush with a new shade of light pink. Intuitively lifted up her chin with his knuckle, in order for her to look back at him as he little by little lowered his face closer to hers shortening the distance between the pair.

Sakura seeing Sasuke lowering his lips towards her, as her own parted in anticipation; found herself focus hard on his soft and supple flesh, while she instinctively tilted her own head before feeling his warm lips press up against hers as they shared a long awaited kiss.

 **Outside**

Elsewhere Sarada still watching Daichi cautiously; after the couple she had been focusing on from before left the area, observed next the doctor finally making his purchase for a ring; before seeing him placing the object in his pants pocket; as he soon walked off in a different direction.

"What is he up to?" she thought immediately before making a judgment call to quickly pursue him further, given that she didn't want to lose her chance to find out more about him.

Sarada following Daichi to the second merchant he visited, as she easily kept herself hidden away from visual sight; witnessed him purchasing the large bouquet of red roses, making her more fascinated than ever by his now two newly acquired gifts.

As the young Uchiha, continued to shadow him masterfully as the time progressed from when she had initially started trailing back at the ring stand. Sarada seeing the shrewd doctor finally come to a stop after running his errands; noticed him going up to a semi-fancy restaurant causing her to gulp at the impending moment of truth.

"Okay doctor Daichi let's see if what you said to mama has any truth." she said to herself after watching him go inside, since she had perceptively figured out why he was purchasing the specific gifts.

Sarada checking her surroundings as she moved once the coast was clear, while she gradually got closer to the eating establishment's window before peeking inside discretely; found Daichi quickly walking up and speaking with a female server the moment the two saw one another. Feeling inquisitive about the pair since they definitely seemed to know each other, Sarada watching the female giggling before touching his shoulder next, found their relationship becoming clearer to her once she watched the waitress suddenly giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Sarada watching the action as it wasn't typical of just a friend, caused her to come to the realization that this woman very much had to be his intended fiancé, based solely on the couples close interaction with one another.

"So it's true?" Sarada questioned, as she was overly positive she could catch him in a lie. However seeing for herself as she was steadily being proven wrong, watching him hand over the flowers first before pulling out and showing her the ring; made Sarada's stomach begin to hurt as she didn't want her judgment of him to be wrong, since she knew deep down in her heart he was still up to something.

"Why?" she thought momentarily while turning around in disbelief, before laying her head up against the wall for support. "There must be something I'm missing?" she said next as she tried to figure out if there was another plausible explanation.

But Sarada seeing she had already trailed him for over an hour, after checking the time herself to confirm from when she had started; reluctantly knew she had no other choice but to postpone her investigation on him until tomorrow. Since she needed to get back home before either one of her parents begin to worry about her or her whereabouts.

Sighing in frustration before she finally got ready to leave the area, Sarada looking back through the window one last time at Daichi's smug smile, had a stern face in response; since she wasn't going to give up just yet despite not finding him lying today.

 **Naruto's House**

 _Knock…Knock_

"Just a minute..." A female said before opening up the door to reveal Sarada and Sakura after their arrival to the Hokage's home.

"Ah welcome Sakura and Sarada-chan," Naruto's wife Hinata spoke immediately as she motioned for them to come in after opening up the door.

However Hinata seeing the two weren't alone as Sasuke was right behind them, had a look of great surprise on her face; given the fact that Naruto had made it seem as if he most likely wouldn't be joining them, based on his reaction to him asking for his attendance prior.

"Sasuke-kun! Long time no see," Hinata finally spoke up making sure to greet him as well.

"Thank so much for having us Hinata… By the way how is the medicine we gave you the other day? Has it helped at all?" Sakura asked as she had a hard time not being in doctor mode, when the situation called for it.

"Yes thank you… My cold has gotten a lot better," she said happily to Sakura as the pair exchanged pleasant grins.

"Oh Sasuke, you actually made it?" Naruto spoke up next after seeing the Uchiha family walking into the house, as he made sure to greet them right away.

However Sasuke noticing Naruto having an abnormal look on his face after the two made eye contact, quickly noticed him nodding him to follow him; as the two shortly left the girls as Sasuke followed Naruto to his tiny personal office.

Sakura seeing the two leaving the room, as she couldn't help feeling happy seeing them together once again after such a long time; made her way into the kitchen next in order to help Hinata and her young daughter Himawari as the trio began to set up the food for dinner.

Boruto being the last one to make his appearance while he finally walked into the room, after hearing the noise of his sister and mother speaking to Sakura loudly; made direct eye contact with Sarada whom was sitting on the couch as he walked over to her to speak. However before the two got a chance to exchange any words, hearing Boruto's sister noticing Sakura's hand caused the pair to pause as they felt a worried chill sweep over their body.

"What happened to your hand?" Himawari asked as she noticed the fresh healed mark as it didn't look like a typical cut.

"Sakura… Are you okay?" Hinata second her daughter, after noticing for herself, what Himawari had pointed out.

Boruto and Sarada looking at one another after hearing Boruto's sister and mother asking questions, didn't know what to say as neither of them had spoken about the details of what had transpired earlier in the day specially Boruto.

Sakura however keenly noticing the kids' apprehensive appearance, before she closed her eyes; decided to cut them both a break especially since she did already scold the pair earlier and what happened wasn't intentional.

"It's nothing just an accident at work… I'm fine; see it's already healed… I just have a bit of a scar." She spoke before grabbing the remaining plates. "Oh okay…" Himawari nodded before turning as she found her mother Hinata in a coughing fit, after she made sure to move away from the kitchen area.

Sarada and Boruto letting out a loud exhale as the two began to move again after relaxing from their stiffened state, both felt relieved about not being ratted out by Sarada's mother; mainly since it could mean more trouble for the pair and a possible harder punishment for Boruto.

"Mama, are you okay?" Himawari asked Hinata after trying to pat her back as her mother's coughing gradually went away.

"I'm fine." She smiled back to her daughter before washing her hands after her coughing subsided.

Sakura setting down the last dish before she put her hands on her waist, found herself looking back happily at Hinata as she gave her a thumbs up over her job well done.

"Yosh! I think we are ready to eat..." Sakura spoke happily, as her and Hinata now just needed everyone to come together, in order for them to begin to eat there meal.

However before the pair could call the children along with Sasuke and Naruto into the room to come eat, hearing the knocking sound of the Uzumaki door next, grabbed everyone's attention since it was far too late for an unexpected visitor.

"Who is that mama?" Himawari asked right away, before she noticed Hinata seemed just as unsure as she was.

"I'll get it." Sakura spoke up after decidedly going over to the door on Hinata's behalf; especially since she was within range.

However once Sakura opened up the door slowly seeing who the impending guest was first, she found herself beyond surprised to see none other than Shikamaru of all people standing at the entrance; as her shock was shared by him as well, since he was unaware that Naruto was obviously busy with guest.

"Ah Sakura?" he spoke while rubbing the back of his head nervously, after unintentionally crashing there get together.

"Are you looking for Naruto?" Hinata asked after she peaked to see who had come to the door shortly after Sakura had opened it.

"I'll go get him," Himawari spoke up before turning to see, both Naruto and Sasuke already coming out of Naruto's office, as he was also stunned by Shikamaru's unexpected appearance.

"Oi Shikamaru?" Naruto spoke before, his friend made the reason for his unannounced visit known to him right away.

"Naruto…I need to speak to you for a moment… If I could," He asked before Naruto nodded to him before he began to walk over towards the door.

"Ah…Don't worry everyone I'll be back," he spoke with a smile, before he shut the door behind him leaving Hinata and Sakura to look at one another questionably.

But Naruto only being gone for a surprising few minutes, much to everyone's amazement except for that of Sasuke, witnessed him seemingly having a happier appearance; as he acted playfully while walking over to the dinner table.

"Wow this looks great…Shall we eat!" he said before taking a seat as he didn't say a word or led onto what Shikamaru had to talk about with him.

Everyone following the Hokage's lead as they settled into their individual sitting spots, bowed their heads after putting their hands together, as the Uzumaki and the Uchiha family for the first time readied themselves for their shared meal while they collectively spoke out loud with the exception of Sasuke.

"Itadakimasu!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Hokage's house**

As the Uchiha's and Uzumaki's sat down together in the Nanadaime's home, having dinner for the first time. Boruto Sarada and Himawari eating separately from their parents; dined in the living room on a smaller table while Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Hinata ate at the bigger one, making the divide between the parents and the children obviously prominent in the house.

Everyone eating peacefully as the two separate groups enjoyed there individual meals, Sakura having her own personal chat with Hinata; as the two caught up on various things. Couldn't help but notice along with her that both Sasuke and Naruto were surprisingly quite; as the pair seemed to be more focused on eating then interacting with each other.

Sakura looking over at her husband first while he kept his eyes closed taking normal bites of his white rice, looked back at Naruto in comparison as he oddly played around with his food making Sakura very concerned for her friend; since unlike Sasuke whom was naturally very quiet at times, she knew Naruto wasn't the type to let his food sit there and go to waste.

However Sakura wanting to address the obvious elephant in the room, as she had a good hunch it concerned the mission; knew she couldn't say a word too the pair just yet, as she would need to wait for everyone to finish their food first, before bringing up the matter later without the children in the room.

Once dinner was shortly over with Sakura helping Hinata by removing the dishes from the table, Sakura also wanting to help wash the dishes after she placed the dirty plates into the sink; found Hinata stop her right away as she was against the idea of her guest doing any house work.

"Sakura you should go sit, I have the dishes don't worry," She spoke with a pleasant smile.

"Are you sure I can't help you?" Sakura asked worriedly since she was aware Hinata was still sick.

"No of course not, you are our guest…Besides" she paused before purposely looking behind Sakura, causing her to turn and see for herself Hinata was perceptibly concerned with Naruto; since he was still very much in his own world while he continued to play with his remaining food on his plate.

Sakura taking Hinata's subtle hint, since now would be her perfect opportunity to speak with him nodded back to her in agreement, before walking over to Naruto as she got his attention slowly.

"Naruto?," she spoke before finally seeing him snapping out of his daze, to make eye contact with her.

"… Is everything okay? Something seems to be bothering you?" She finally asked in a low voice causing Sasuke to look over at her, before he too looked towards Naruto as well.

Naruto surprised to see his two old teammates looking at him with troubled faces, as it took him a moment to realize he had been acting differently. Sat up straight as he wanted to speak on the matter, but not before quickly remembering the kids and Hinata were still in the room.

"Hey Boruto…. Could you take Sarada and Himawari into another room for a bit, while we speak," he finally said as he kept his eyes on Sasuke and Sakura.

"Huh?" Boruto let out with attitude, before he was going to protest to his father telling him what to do.

However Sarada understanding this was a more serious issue; based solely on the looks of her own parents' faces as well as Naruto's, quickly gives Boruto a pinch on the arm grabbing his focus in order to coax him to pay more attention to the vibe in the room; as he needed to follow his father's orders for once without fighting back.

Boruto looking back at her with a confused expression, before looking for himself what Sarada had already noticed; felt intrigued about the parents serious looks, until Sarada got his attention again as she stood up quickly from the table.

"Hey Boruto you just got a new game recently right? Can I see?" she asked after nudging him harder.

"Yeah Onii-chan," Himawari second as she had wanted to play as well.

Boruto huffing before nodding his head to the pair, looked back at Naruto whom had a grateful smile; before he got up from the table as well departing the room with Sarada, and Himawari following closely behind leaving the parents lastly alone together.

Naruto letting out a semi reassured sigh, once the kids were gone out of the room; turned around to look back at Hinata next, as she understood without his words his unvoiced request; as she smiled back to him before leaving the room as well.

Sakura seeing Hinata leaving the room shortly after the children, found herself unsurprised by her not being involved with the classified mission; despite her being a very skilled ninja in her own right. Sakura knew that for Hinata being the wife of the Hokage, meant that there would be times in which she wasn't meant to know about certain things, and now was definitely one of those times.

Once the room was quite with only the old team 7 once again speaking with one another, Naruto being able to talk freely among his old friends begins to speak on his worries, as it had visually weighed heavy on his mind as of late.

"Sakura… So I take it Sasuke has showed you the details so far?" Naruto asked before watching her going through her purse after he had asked his question.

"Yes… Here are some notes I retrieved from earlier today, they're collectively from a few of my patient charts during the last few months… I went over them a little before we got here, and there is definitely some consistency from the initial first reported cases, and the more recent ones.

Luckily for us from what I can tell this isn't something that is spread virally or through regular skin to skin contact or else we would be seeing more dramatic numbers…What's most troubling though is not only the amount of those continuing too get sick, but the recovery rate has started to decline; as a result of the rising sickness level." Sakura said before Naruto interrupted her

"So you mean people are getting sicker?" he questioned trying to fully understand her meaning.

"Yes… looking into the very first reported cases it seems that all of those patients were treated with normal healing methods, back when it looked to be an outbreak of a regular common cold; other than the sheer numbers of those getting sick, no one thought it was out of the ordinary.

However as these newer cases have been presenting themselves more recently, the patients seem to be acquiring not only the same onset symptoms of the first reported cases; but there symptoms seem to change up based on the individual person, making it almost impossible to link to any known illness…and even harder to treat.

… I'll admit even I didn't even fully realize this troubling pattern… until after speaking with Sasuke-kun earlier, but with all the cases one thing is for certain, they start with the same common warning sign… of coughing and high fever." Sakura paused while she looked at both men whom were listening intently.

"How… How are we going to treat this?" Naruto spoke up while clenching his hand next causing his knuckles to turn white catching Sakura's attention.

"Well there may be some hope… It took me some work, but I finally convinced one of my deceased patient's wives, to let us proceed with an autopsy of her husband's body. So maybe in this research we can find a connection and get some answers to the root of his cause of death... As well as a possible treatment for the more serious cases," She said optimistically before reaching for Naruto's shaky hand.

"So you don't have to worry as much Naruto… We'll get to the bottom of this." she added hoping that was all that had been bothering him.

However still seeing his expression not getting any better with the latest news after removing her hand from his; Sakura looking back at Sasuke as she didn't know what else could be the matter with him, saw Sasuke stair back at her momentarily before finally speaking up in her place to get to the bottom of his worry bluntly.

"There's something else bothering you…What did Shikamaru tell you?" he asked next forcing him to answer.

Naruto gradually pulling out a small paper from his pocket after Sasuke's question, spread the document out on the table revealing a folded up map; as he presented it too both Sasuke and Sakura. "I asked him earlier to do a little searching and he was also able to get some additional information on the cases…" he paused before grabbing a pin to circle an area around the map.

"It seems most of the reported incidents of people getting sick, we've found have been happening within this single pinpointed area … within a 15 mile radius of here." He said before looking specifically up at Sakura.

"It can't be… That's around the hospital?" Sakura said in surprise right away causing her to stand up to get a better look at the map.

"What's worrying me the most…" Naruto paused as he looked down, "Is that's where Hinata was two days ago … before she came down with a cold," he admitted before his appearance worsened, making Sakura's eyes narrow at him revealing the truth.

"Naruto!…" she said in surprise before seeing him grab at his temples.

"Wait… It may not be anything bad, we still have patients coming in normally with regular colds, besides the onset of the other symptoms would have shown themselves by now; she even said herself she's feeling better …So don't worry." Sakura spoke trying to calm his mind, as she knew he obviously feared the worse, especially after her strong factual information.

"Sakura?" he said while looking up at her slowly. "In your opinion do you think this is natural… or the work of someone?" he asked next while looking at her seriously, waiting on her answer.

Sakura looking down herself, as she felt the pressure of having him wait for her answer; bit her bottom lip as she couldn't deny the facts she had seen for herself. "It's not for certain and I still need to do research… but yes I strongly feel this is the work of someone it's to sporadic for it not to be," she said reluctantly since she hated giving answers without having any real proof.

"So if this is the work of someone, we need to start surveillance of the area… Along with the people in and around the hospital," Sasuke added after speaking up while looking at Naruto who was in agreement.

"Surveillance? Wait… You don't think?" Sakura questioned them before Naruto interrupted.

"It's very possible whoever is doing this is in the area or in the hospital so we need to search and keep an eye on the area starting tomorrow. Sasuke… I can lend some kage bushin to help, but we may still need your keen eye as well," Naruto said next causing Sakura to look on more worried by potential troubles at the hospital.

 **Outside**

Once the two families said there good byes, with the Uchiha family heading in the direction for home after there dinner with Naruto and his family; Sasuke walking behind Sakura and Sarada before his pace began to slow, looked down while reaching into his side pocket next. Before pulling out a shiny silver key as it lightly reflected off of the street lights; that had came on long after the sun had vanished from the sky.

 **Sasuke's Flashback**

Following Naruto nodding for Sasuke to follow him, as the two went into his personal office too speak with one another privately. Sasuke looking at Naruto reaching into one of his desk drawers the moment he shut the door behind him, watched him next pulling out a small key as he showed him the object much to his confusion.

"What's that for?" he asked questioningly before Naruto handed the object over to him.

"It's an extra key to my office, use this for sources in your research," he said quietly before seeing Sasuke give him an odd look.

"Sorry…It seems I may have my own personal reasons for this mission now, but I want you to have full access to whatever you need… I know you'll use it discretely." He added while placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke putting the key in his pocket before looking back at Naruto, could only nod his head to him, as he wondered what he had meant by his own personal reason.

 **End Sasuke's Flashback**

Sasuke closing his hand after thinking back to Naruto gifting the key too him; as his own personal passage way into the Hokage's office, stopped himself from walking all together. Before he noticed Sakura and Sarada stopping as well, after they easily sensed he had no longer been following them.

"…Sorry I need to..." He started to say since he needed to leave to finally begin his research however seeing Sakura walking closer over to him before he could finish speaking; Sasuke surprised by her calm smile, was a little taken aback as she seemed to already know what he was going to say before he could say it.

"Its okay Sasuke-kun, thanks for coming to dinner, with us… I'll see you tomorrow." She winked at him while hinting toward their impending date

Sakura understanding of her husbands need to do his job, just like Hinata had been with Naruto, was happy for any time she got to spend with the Uchiha; as she wanted him to be aware she didn't mind him leaving as she easily understood.

.Sasuke nodding back to her, before looking to Sarada whom had walked up to him as well, bent down to hug her before he left them for the night.

"Bye… Papa," Sarada spoke sadly before feeling her mother, comfort her with an arm over her shoulder.

"Ah" Sasuke spoke before soon disappearing from their sight instantly.

As Sakura and Sarada continued their walk back home together as the dark sky became surprisingly darker, finding a chance to chat with one another while they walked; the pair enjoyed the night out as it had truly been a long time, since they got to spend some quality time with one another just as mother and daughter.

"That was nice of the Nanadaime to invite us to dinner," Sarada spoke happily, before she yawned while stretching her arms out.

"Yeah… I'm just really glad to have time with your papa and Naruto but mainly… with you." Sakura said while nudging her daughter, causing her to look back at Sakura with big eyes.

"But you haven't seen papa in such a long time, why aren't you more happy to see him?" She asked as she felt uneasy by the comment.

"I know it seems silly but the relationship me and you have is different then the one I have with your papa, I worry about you… Especially when you're on your own so much …I'm sorry I've been working a lot more lately." She apologized to her with a sympathetic face.

Sarada taken aback to have her mother apologize to her, felt strangely glad to hear it as she was relieved to know her mother wasn't intentionally forgetting about her. "It's okay but … Aren't you ever worried about your relationship to papa?" she decided to ask after she herself came to a stop.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked since she wasn't sure about the reasoning for her question.

"That man… Daichi the way he was hugging you… I don't know what papa would have done if he had…" she spoke before finding Sakura quickly stop her.

"Now I see… You're worried about your papa getting the wrong idea is that right?" She asked as she looked at her to check her expression.

Sarada looking away from her mother after she had openly asked the question, had a nervous blush come over her face; as she didn't want to say anything more about what she really thought however Sakura not letting the remark go tried to reassure her daughter next, that everything was okay and that there was still nothing to worry about.

"Sarada the relationship your papa and I have is fine, and besides Daichi-kun is a good friend. I know you are looking out for me… but there is nothing to worry about... I still mean it what i said about earlier; I want you to apologize to Daichi-kun… Okay?" She spoke in her returned sterner voice as she didn't want her to take what she said yesterday too lightly.

"I understand… Me and Boruto talked it over and we are going to go apologize to him soon." She spoke cheerfully while secretly hiding back her annoyance of having to do such.

"Really? That's my girl," Sakura said with a grin back to her daughter, before the two started to walk again.

However while the twosome walked back together, feeling the sudden weather change almost instantly as it began to rain out of nowhere; both Sarada and Sakura began to make a run towards there home in order to avoid the down pour, as it rapidly started soaking the two.

 **Uchiha House**

Once Sakura and Sarada finally got to there house, while the pair headed towards the front door; Sarada catching a strange silhouette standing just outside, made her quickly tug on her mother's arm getting her attention. As they both came to a stop, since neither of them could recognize the person standing in front of the door so late at night.

"Hello?" Sakura questioned after pushing Sarada behind her as she got gradually closer. "Daichi-kun?" she asked next after seeing it was him standing in the rain, all alone completely drenched.

"What is he doing here?" Sarada asked her mother as she surprised by him being there.

Sakura looking back at her daughter, since she didn't know why he was there of all places either, decides to walk up closer to colleague as she tried to get to the bottom of his unannounced visit.

"What are you?" she began to ask. Before noticing the overly sad look on his face, as he had something clenched in his hand.

"Sakura-san…Sorry I just needed to …Talk to someone," he spoke with gloom in his voice.

 **So next week there maybe a bit of a delay in chapter 7 but I'll try to update soon thanks.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Uchiha house**

"What I can't believe it?…" Sakura said in disbelief while handing Daichi a towel after inviting him inside the house from the now pouring rain.

Sarada making her way back into the living room after changing into some newly dry clothes herself, watched her mother going into the kitchen next; in order to fix Daichi something warm to drink, since he like her had been drenched from standing outside just moments before.

"Is tea okay?" Sakura asked next after she grabbed a whistling kettle from the stove indicating the water was ready.

"Yes, thank you." Daichi replied while placing something hard on the dining table, before he used his now free hands to towel dry his wet hair.

Sarada walking over to sit down on one of the couches next, while she continued to stared at the object Daichi had put on the table; could see from just the light glistening from the object, it was a familiar ring she had seen earlier before, catching her full attention as she now felt anxious that Daichi's so called proposal didn't go as he obviously planned.

"Gomen.. Sakura-san, I didn't mean to interrupt your night with your family, but I really didn't have anyone else to talk too about this sort of thing or…. Anywhere I could go other than home." Daichi spoke up after taking the steaming cup from Sakura, after she had offered it to him.

"Daichi-kun," she said gently before sitting on the other side of the table. "You don't have to apologize… I'm just really sorry to hear what happened. Did she say why she didn't want to marry you?" Sakura asked sincerely.

Sarada eyes growing larger after listening in on the beginnings of their conversation, after she heard her mother confirm what she had already suspected; found herself clutching onto her towel irritably as she had no other choice but to continue to remain silent, while keeping her watchful eye over the two especially now that her father was opportunely away.

" … I guess we're just too different…" Daichi said to answer Sakura's question, before he took a sip of his drink slowly.

 **Sarada's flashback**

Sarada watching Daichi going in too a nice restaurant before getting closer to the window herself to observe him; was able to peak inside discretely before noticing him walking up and speaking with a female server the moment the two saw one another.

Feeling questionably watching the pair as they definitely seemed to be acquaintance with each other, Sarada soon seeing Daichi handing over the flowers and ring to the female; made her very on guard that this person of interest had to very much be his intended fiancé, as she seemed to be not only extremely excited but also shockingly unsuspecting over the surprised gifts.

 **End Sarada's flashback**

Sarada recalling back to what she had witnessed earlier with her own eyes, as the female had seemed to be more than accepting of Daichi's proposal from what she could tell; Frowned her eyebrows after scrunching her face just listening to him say otherwise had happened, as once again she felt he was lying about being rejected by her.

"I see… Daichi-kun, it may not seem like it but everything will be okay. Things always happen for a reason, and maybe she just needs a little more time." Sakura added trying her best to be positive towards his situation.

"Maybe you're right Sakura-san …or maybe she just… Isn't the one for me," He added before slowly looking up at her for a few moments. "Where… is your husband?" he asked next while he purposely browsed around for his whereabouts.

Sakura hesitating a bit at the questioned before she gave him a strained smile, tried to answer without giving away much details due to him truly working on a confidential mission that even Sarada didn't know about. "He's just out working again… Anyway If you want to change, I can find you some warm clothes…I'm sure Sasuke-kun wouldn't mind." Sakura spoke while standing up to go retrieve the clothes.

However feeling a hand grab her wrist after she got up Sakura stopping in reaction to her arm being held looked back at Daichi; as he began to openly protest, to her getting the clothes much to her surprise.

"No!" he said next causing not only Sakura but Sarada to look back at him perplexed over his rise in vocal volume over the offer.

"No..It's…Just that's okay, I mainly wanted someone to speak too," he said trying to reassure her he was alright as he was.

"Sakura-san thanks… like always," Daichi said before seeing her sitting back down causing him to loosen his grip on her wrist, but instead of taking his hand fully away from her. Daichi seeing her grabbing for her own drink decided to return her kindness, as he reached back for her hand again this time rubbing it in soothing circles.

Sarada shooting up at watching him make his unsubtle move on her mother, caused her next to make up something on the spot; since she didn't like where things were heading if she didn't stop him from what he was obviously trying to do now which infuriated her greatly.

"Momma sorry I'm not feeling so well, could you check my temperature?" She asked while acting as if she was queasy.

"Really? Let me see." Sakura said after moving her hands, as she headed over to Sarada before putting a hand up to her forehead to check for herself. "You don't feel warm" she spoke to her before continuing her brief examination, after touching cheeks for warmth.

"Maybe I should get a thermometer," Sakura said before leaving the room for a moment to go retrieve the item from her medical bag; she happened to keep at home with her just incase.

Daichi watching Sakura leaving the room momentarily after shortly attending to Sarada, noticed right away after looking back at her young daughter; that her eyes were locked onto his as she gave him a dangerous look, after her eyes briefly changed in color.

Finding himself smirk at her aggressive behavior towards him, before Sakura came back into the room; Daichi finally getting up from his seat understood what was happening, since he was made fully aware by Sarada's warning that his company was no longer welcomed.

"Sorry Sakura-san it's getting late… I should really get going plus it may not look good having a strange man in your house this late at night… Especially with the man of the house away," He added after specifically looking towards Sarada.

"Are you sure you're okay Daichi-kun?" Sakura asked while turning back to look at him after handing Sarada the thermometer.

"Yes thanks for the towel and drink," he added before heading towards the door.

"Okay here let me at least walk you out." Sakura spoke before looking to her daughter. "Sarada I'll be right back stay here." she spoke before following Daichi as she walked him to the door, causing Sarada much relief after seeing the door shut behind the two; after she exhaustedly sat back on the couch before letting out a frustrated sigh over the annoying doctor.

"Finally he's gone…I have to find out what is going on with this guy," she thought to herself next as she closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them back up.

"Papa… where are you." She thought next as she wished he would have been there to easily set the man straight, however after him leaving so abruptly after dinner; Sarada had no idea where he had gone off to, since he and her mother kept this work under warps from her.

 **OUTSIDE**

After Sakura grabbed an extra umbrella to give too Daichi in order to borrow, as the rain hadn't let up much since they were outside last; felt still worried about his mental status over his rejection, as she understood being one who had been rejected several times that it was never an easy thing to take since she could definitely understand what he was going through.

"Daichi-kun I know its not easy but… Maybe you should keep trying." She added as she looked at him more sternly.

"Keep trying? What's the point if she rejected me," He asked not understanding her implication.

"Its true she did reject you now, but I think being persistent is never a bad thing especially if you really want to be with her." She found herself pausing while looking down as she reminisced about her own past.

"If I hadn't been persistent back then I may have never ended up with Sasuke-kun, I know our situations are different but don't give up just yet… If she's the one that you love you should fight for her." She spoke optimistically to him.

".. Sakura-san I …." He spoke cautiously as she had an inquisitive look on here face since he seemed to want to say something else to her.

"What is it?" she asked before there was a long pause between the two.

"Never mind …Thanks." He spoke before turning around.

Sakura smiling hoping her advice had helped him while he began to walk back inside quickly found a gasp come out of her mouth as she tried to stop him quickly. "Daichi-kun," she yelled in order to get his attention.

"Yes." he answered back quickly as he looked back at her with large eyes.

"Its just tomorrow… I have a date with Sasuke-kun, so I'll be leaving early will you be okay on your own?" she asked as she held onto her hands openly in an apologetic manner.

Daichi pausing at the question before he looked down a bit, shook his head as he had a smirk and chuckle in his voice before he responded back to her. "That should be fine… See you tomorrow." He spoke before turning to leave.

 **The next morning**

"Sarada…." Sakura said quietly after opening up the door to Sarada's room and entering quietly.

Sarada opening up from her eyes after she heard her name and felt the weight of her bed change witnessed her mother sitting beside her on her bed, before feeling her warm hand come up and cup her forehead.

"How are you feeling? Will you be okay today on your own, maybe I should stay home with you?..." Sakura asked once she made eye contact with Sarada as she was still anxious about her claim of not feeling well from the night before.

"No…That's okay I'll be fine." Sarada spoke with her voice groggy from sleep.

"Okay… if you don't feel any better soon, I think I should cancel the date with your papa, since you're still not feeling well." Sakura said before Sarada protested right away.

"No really its okay…I'm already almost better, enjoy your date with papa tonight." Sarada reassured her before closing her eyes again, showing Sakura she was going back to sleep.

Smiling to her daughter before bending down and kissing her forehead Sakura needing to leave for work; got up gradually after covering her back up as she left the room after shutting the door back behind her.

However Sarada opening up her eyes back up, after hearing the door close back waited until she heard the front door to the house open and close as well; as she quickly sat up after she knew her mother now had finally left for work giving her time to exact her plan.

The kunoichi getting up from her bed quickly, as she had already been dressed in her clothes prior; moved fast since she had made plans to meet up with Boruto in just a little while, to find out more information about Daichi, as the two were planning to infiltrate the hospital today to find out what the doctor was up too.

 **Hokage's Office**

Elsewhere after Sasuke finished going through another round of medical books, as he had spent his whole night in the Hokage's office doing his investigation; after leaving Sarada and Sakura the night before. The Uchiha stacking his closed books one another before he added them on top of his growing research pile, frustratingly sat back in his chair while he recalled back to Sakura's earlier comments holding very true; since he just like her was unable to find any real links to not only any known illness, but also any obvious connections between the patients in question who had already come down sick.

Sasuke standing up from his seat after needing to take a much required break in order to rest not only his mind but his tired eyes, as he was unfortunately coming to a dead end of his searching; mainly due to the limited amount of books he had left from his dwindling pile. Walked around the office for a bit to stretch his legs, before stopping at Naruto's desk after he noticed a picture frame catch his eye as he pick it up slowly to examine it.

Looking into the reflective glass of the frame as he stared at the image of the Uzumaki's standing together as a family; Sasuke seeing just how happy they were in the picture with one another, caused him to suddenly have questions of his own families happiness in return, after he soon lowered the picture in his hands.

Sasuke thinking about Sarada and Sakura, as he felt regrettably guilty leaving them on their own most of the time; was very aware that his and Naruto's families were different from one another. However Sasuke seeing for himself how his family had been as of recently, after his return home from being away for so long; he new the cracks in their family unit was beginning to show. As Sara Sarada's erratic guarded, behavior began to worry him along, with Sakura's overworking nature, since she was constantly pushing herself even to the brink of pure exhaustion.

Putting the picture back on the desk, while he tried to shake off his many lingering regrets he had on his mind, Sasuke however glancing over at the rest of desk after setting down the frame. Found his attention shift away from his private thoughts as he was overly distracted by noticing just how messy and cluttered Naruto's desk truly was, as there were several papers left sitting out; since it looked as if he had also been trying to do research on his own but on a less pressing matter.

"You still haven't changed...Baka," Sasuke spoke to himself after shaking his head, as he grabbed and shuffled the papers together; since seeing the mess made him want to at least fix and organize it, since Naruto was allowing him use of his office.

However Sasuke taking a second glance at one of the sheets lying on Naruto's desk, as he began to go through the page curiously; found himself stopping for a moment as the page caught his interest enough for him to want to look further into the matter as he quickly summoned one of his hawks just after looking over the contents briefly.

As the bird waited for Sasuke's command as it sat patiently waiting, Sasuke writing down a small note next; attached it too the birds leg; before sending it away as he needed to get Sakura's opinion on something concerning the mission as he now had a potential new lead to follow..

 **HOSPITAL**

"You're late." Sarada spoke after she had waited on Boruto for what seemed like over an hour, as she had gotten there earlier and waited for him to show up.

"Sorry I'm here now." He said after he wondered why Sarada hadn't gone inside just yet.

"What are you waiting for lets go." He said before pushing past her to go inside, however Sarada grabbing a hold of his arm, pulled him back as she needed to explain to him what she wanted to do and how she wanted to go about it, as she made sure they had a plan of attack.

"Wait a minute baka, my mom is working today and if she sees us then she is going to ask unnecessary questions." She said right away while she looked around.

"So what should we do?" Boruto asked next as he didn't know what her idea was.

"Simple... There is a nurse that knows me at the front desk, I'm going to go talk to her, while you sneak in and check the schedules that are posted up in the back. We need to get my mother's schedule so we can move through the hospital without running into her… You should be able to do it right?" Sarada asked while she raised an eyebrow.

"No problem." Boruto reassured before the pair nodded to one another, before Sarada went inside first.

 **Inside the Hospital**

After Boruto and Sarada went inside of the hospital, while seeing it was extremely busy with several nurses, doctors, and patients walking about. Sarada making her way cautiously over to the main desk area got to work on acting out her plan, as a distraction since she called out for the nurse right away as soon as she was close enough.

"Ah Mrs Izumi how are you," she spoke up nervously, while keeping an eye out for her mother.

"Oh Sarada-chan you're back again… Are you bringing your mother another lunch?" she asked as she seemed delighted to be visited once again by the young ninja.

"Well not really," Sarada said while patting her head frontward, as she used that as a sign for Boruto to proceed with their plan.

Boruto seeing Sarada talking to the nurse while she purposely made big gestures with her hands, made his way over to the front since she had been the only nurse as he slipped behind without being seen before looking around in confusion for what he needed to be looking for. to be asking for directions, made his way behind the door to the front; before he looked at the schedules seeing a variety of doctors and nurses However Boruto seeing the names were extensive than he anticipated began to have a little more trouble finding Sarada's mothers name as he flipped through another page frantically trying to hurry up.

"Really? Well that's good." Sarada replied to the nurse, while searching behind her to see if she had the all clear from Boruto.

Boruto working fast as he heard the conversation dwindling down, quickly picked up some more papers; as he still was unable to find Sakura's name.

"Anyway I need to get back to work… Sarada-chan, you have a good da.." The nurse started to say before Sarada pulled on her arm forcing her to stay a little longer.

"Mrs. Izumi-chan I was wondering could you tell me…My mom would love shoes like that Ah… Where you got those?" Sarada asked in desperation after trying to find anything she could for a talking point.

"Oh these?" the nurse spoke causing Sarada to grin forcefully.

However Boruto finally finding Sakura's schedule, after he was in the clear copied it on some paper before throwing Sarada a thumbs up from behind the nurse; as he took off without being seen allowing Sarada to let the nurse get back to work.

"Ah Mrs. Izumi, sorry for the trouble I got to go… See Ya." Sarada spoke mid conversation as she took off in a hurry down the hallway. "Oh okay…" Mrs. Izumi said to herself before going back to her office. "That was strange."

After Sarada and Boruto got to a good stopping place down the hallway, Boruto letting Sarada see the schedule; went over it so that the pair could memorize Sakura's schedule. "Nice work Boruto, so my mom is on the other side of the hospital today, I say lets check out Daichi's office first and see if we can find anything on him." Sarada said since she had already decided where she wanted to start.

"Ano … Sarada you really that serious about this guy huh?" Boruto asked as he wanted to know a little more.

"Yes, he came to our house the other night, I know he knows I don't like him… Yet he insists on being around my mom and he keeps asking about papa as well… I tried to do some searching on him while I was out yesterday, but it seemed to check out that he had purposed to someone I saw it." She added while looking down.

"He went to your house yesterday." Boruto asked as he wasn't aware he was that familiar with them.

"Supposedly his engagement didn't go over well." She answered before the pair finally came up to Daichi's office after walking while talking with one another as they moved cautiously.

Sarada seeing inside the foggy window of his office, as the lights seemed to be out; next jiggled the handle before she could tell right away that the door was locked. "Damn." She cursed as she didn't want to break the door, due to drawing unnecessary attention to themselves with a forced entry.

 **Boruto's Flashback**

As Boruto watched Sarada confronting Doctor Daichi whom had came out of his office seeing the doctor put a key in his pocket caught his attention as he quickly locked the door behind him.

 **End Boruto's Flashback**.

Boruto remembering to the time he had witnessed Daichi putting a key in his pocket, had a idea come to mind since he knew how to proceed from where they were keeping discrete in there search. "Sarada… Lets go visit Daichi now." He spoke up with a devilish grin.

"Boruto ?…" Sarada spoke before seeing he had a obvious plan based off his confident expression, before he handed her a paper with Daichi's schedule surprisingly next.

Sarada excitingly impressed by him grabbing the additional info since he had thought outside of the box, nodded her head to him, before she followed his lead as they took off in search of doctor Daichi.

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay in this chapter this one is kind of a turning point in the story, as for my portraying of Sakura. Sakura isn't a naïve character Daichi coming to the house is unexpected but not threatening to where she would need to use her senses. I know Sakura is a Sannin but she is human she doesn't always have to use her skills for everything: P she's smart beautiful medical ninja too, I love her strengths so my writing for her is not to make her naïve but to play on her human side and her strengths. Hopefully that helps thanks for the comments.**

 ** **So there has been a slight revision on some of this story after some great feedback, Thanks for the comments!****


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **West Wing Hospital**

Working on the other side of the hospital while assisting with two new patients that were brought into her quickly; Sakura shaking her thermometer after double checking the readings from the device, worriedly saw that the tool was in working order as the results were regrettably accurate since the body temperature of the patient, was beyond normal for what it needed to be without concern or worry.

"How long have you been feeling this sick?" She asked right away, as a male and female she had been examining held onto each other while coughing.

"We both were fine the other day… We actually went ring shopping in fact, and then all the sudden we both came down with a fever." The female spoke hoarsely before she covered her mouth while coughing into her hand; to avoid naturally from spreading any germs.

Sakura looking at the female's ring after seeing her covering up her mouth to cough noticed momentarily that the ring was similar to the one Daichi had from the night before; as it was almost the same cut, style and color. However Sakura shaking this trivial fact out of her mind as it wasn't important at the moment, quickly took to her notes as she jotted down some things before rubbing her temples resignedly.

"Well I know it seems a bit unnecessary… But can you two stay for further observation?" She asked next.

"Observation? Is this something serious?" The male asked dismayed that something could be wrong.

"No, it's just I want to be on the safe side, since you both got sick so suddenly. So if it's okay with you two I'd like you to stay overnight," she said while trying to down play anything being abnormal.

The male looking to his significant other after she reached for his hand once again, in turn wrapped his free arm around her as the duo came to a decision. "What do you think honey?" the female asked first while waiting for his encouragement.

"Let's do it… Better safe then sorry right? Besides I couldn't bare it if anything were to happen to you." He responded back before running his hands threw her hair lovingly.

Sakura watching the display between the overly romantic pair, as she couldn't help but feel strangely envious of the couple's open affection for one another; found herself looking away slightly before she soon got up to get ready to leave.

"Thank you Mrs Uchiha, for looking out for our best interest." The female said happily, after grabbing Sakura's hand.

Sakura looking back at the couple before she smiled forcefully; nodded her head to the pair before grabbing the room door next. "Don't worry we'll keep an eye on you two, and you should be able to leave tomorrow after the 24 hour examination is over." She said with another smile before leaving the room shutting the door behind her.

However huffing as she looked over some notes while standing on the other side of the door, Sakura comparing the pair's different symptoms from one another, noticed troublingly that the female was more sicker of the two; as she was positively on the same scale with her previous patient that had gotten sick and passed away Mr. Ito.

Sakura feeling the real pressure of trying to save the couple, as she began to make her way down the hall; tried to figure out now how to help the couple best as she worried for their grim prognosis. While she thought as she went through her charts however Sakura hearing a strange pecking noise catching her attention, quickly stopped before noticing the source of the sound came from one of the hospital windows; as she saw a hawk sitting just outside of the ledge as it began to peck again.

Looking around cautiously first before getting closer to the window, Sakura noticing the bird was all too familiar saw next that it seemed to have a note attached to its leg. Making her understand all to well it was definitely a bird that belonged to Sasuke; as she quickly went into a nearby empty room in order to receive the message it was sent to deliver.

 **Daichi's Office**

Sarada trying to look inside of Daichi's foggy office window, as the lights seemed to be out; next jiggled the handle before learning quickly that the door was locked from the inside, "Damn." She cursed out before looking around.

"Why don't you just break it?" Boruto asked after noticing her not going inside after she messed with the handle.

"We can't… Someone will definitely notice it and we'll be found out… Plus there seems to be a second lock on here. Which is strange?" Sarada said since she knew breaking the door would cause unnecessary awareness to them and they needed to be as discrete as possible.

Boruto looking on at seeing Sarada become frustrated, as she obviously didn't think about not being able to get into Daichi's office, put a hand up to his chin before remembering to his first time meeting the doctor. Recalling at the time they met, that even then he had locked his office door behind him, Boruto suddenly having an idea come to mind thinking about the encounter gave Sarada a big smile as he knew what to do next.

"We should go pay a visit to Daichi." He said before his smile shifted to a devilish grin.

"Boruto ?…" Sarada questioned before noticing he had to have an obvious plan, based off his confident expression; as he soon backed up this idea by handing her a piece of paper with Daichi's schedule on it surprising her next.

"This? When did you?" Sarada asked unsure of when he had the time to get the information.

"I figured we might need this to, so I grabbed it after getting your mom's schedule… Plus we needed to know where he is too," he said happily after placing his hands behind his head.

Sarada looking back at him impressed by him grabbing the additional information they needed, nodded her head to him before she followed his lead; as they took off quickly in search of Daichi.

 **Vacant Hospital room**

After Sakura rushed into a nearby empty hospital room, that had a window not to far from where she had seen the hawk tapping on the glass. Lifting open the window while she stepped back, Sakura watching as the hawk flew inside the hospital room; lifted her hand for him to land on, allowing her to untie the note that was attached to its leg.

Once Sakura grabbed the small paper with her free hand, she next moved the bird over to rest on the window ledge; as it primed its feathers while waiting for Sakura's response. Unraveling the note as she knew right away just like she had anticipated, it had come from Sasuke, reading over the contents of the note; Sakura was surprised to learn from it that not only had he stumbled on a potential new lead following the recent cases, but that he needed some additional help from her concerning her patient that had passed away recently.

"I wonder," Sakura said to herself after finishing with the note, as she began to think for a few moments. However hearing someone call for her by name down the hall; Sakura quickly grabbing a piece of paper from her own pocket began to write quickly, before attaching the note onto the bird and allowing it to fly back outside before closing the window back.

"There you are Mrs. Uchiha… We have a patient requesting for you." Sakura heard from behind her as a nurse spoke to her as she had a chart in her hand.

"Yes… Sorry coming." Sakura said before straightening her lab coat, as she followed behind the nurse.

 **Hospital**

Elsewhere as Boruto led Sarada down the hall towards Daichi's location; per the schedule he was able to obtain earlier. The duo soon turning the hospital corner find themselves soon stumbling upon the doctor in question; as his back was turned towards them while he was busy speaking with a nurse.

However Boruto acting quickly after seeing the nurse looking in their general direction, motioned for Sarada to hide along with him behind some objects; as the two were separated from each other while they hid on either sides of the walls.

Once he felt he was in the clear Boruto peaking out first from his hiding spot to see if the two had been noticed; was thankful to see the nurse hadn't luckily seen them, since she remained talking with Daichi much to his relief.

While Boruto looked towards Sarada as the pair let out a collective sigh together, soon hearing the sound of the high heels coming down the hall next; caused the pair to instinctively duck down before seeing another nurse, coming from almost out of nowhere as she walked by them without realizing they were there.

Once the nurse left the area, Sarada standing back up before she looked back to Boruto couldn't quite understand why he had wanted to find Daichi; since they now couldn't get any closer to him without being seen. However watching Boruto pointing something out to her, as he wanted her to look over in the doctor's general direction; Sarada almost immediately noticed that Daichi in fact had the keys to his office with him, as they were visibly on the his waist band out in plain site.

Now understanding Boruto's reasoning for why he wanted to find him, as Sarada nodded back to confirm she now understood his plan; looked on reluctantly next after knowing they still had a problem with proceeding without being seen, since the pair still needed to get close enough to Daichi in order to grab the keys. Sarada however having a plan of action as she now motioned for Boruto to follow her lead first, gave him the same signal from before; as she hoped he realized what she was trying to do, as she volunteered herself to be a diversion after finally leaving her hiding spot.

While Sarada walked openly down the hallway towards Daichi and the nurse's direction, as she in truth did need to speak to him anyway; the young Uchiha also knew she could make a perfect distraction for Boruto, in order to give him enough time to grab the keys without being noticed.

"Daichi-san?" She spoke up once the nurse saw her, causing him to turn towards her as he was shocked to see her there at the hospital so soon.

"Sarada? How can I help you? Are you looking for you mother again? Because she isn't in the area" he said before the nurse he had spoken to turned to leave them alone to talk.

Sarada watching the nurse leave first, as she now was given her a chance to be alone with him; looked down with hesitation before she finally looked up to speak to Daichi. "About yesterday…" she started to say before he stopped her.

"Sarada I'm sorry…" He interrupted her causing her to look at him confused by him apologizing all of the sudden.

"You are?" she spoke unsure of his reasoning

"Yes, I get it," He paused while moving some hair out of his eyes. "Having someone like me appear out of nowhere like that the other night, when even your own father hasn't been around you very much… must have been threatening." He said before flashing an odd grin.

Sarada feeling her eyes twitch uncontrollably along with her fist clenching hard at hearing his words, found herself grow beyond infuriated by him saying something derogatory towards her father; as she tried her hardest to let the comment slide for now since she wanted to punch him square in his smug face but not before having her proof of doing so.

"I meant about the incident with the kunai, my mother is right I should have apologized to you earlier so I'm… Sorry." She said while bowing to him while holding her pride back along with her fist.

"Well that's a very adult thing of you to do…But what about your other little friend," Daichi spoke while crossing his arms.

Sarada lifting her head up to reply to his comment, quickly stopped herself before she could speak; once she noticed the nurse from earlier had already return as she seemed to be fumbling around the area and messing with papers, causing Daichi as well to turn back around to look back at her as she got his attention.

"What are you looking for now?" Daichi asked the nurse after she was distracting to both him and obviously Sarada. The nurse looking around kept her face away, as she moved more papers around. "Sorry I was looking for some charts." She added in an overly high voice.

Sarada seeing Daichi distracted with the nurse's presence, as she used the short time to glance behind her; since she was curious about Boruto as he was no where in her visible site. Sarada turning back around towards Daichi as she noticed he was still looking at the nurse, could see catching her eye were his keys dangling in front of her next, as they were temptingly within her line of sight.

However Sarada wanting to grab them while she had the chance, found quickly she couldn't reach for them fast enough; before seeing Daichi turning back around to her, causing her to straightened up in order to not give him any hints that she was up to something.

"I'll get them for you…Room 405 right?" Daichi asked the nurse after he faced Sarada again.

"Yes." The nurse answered back, before Sarada spoke up continuing their conversation.

"Hang on I'm speaking with Sarada here, I'll get them for you in a second." He said before Sarada spoke up answering his earlier question.

"Boruto couldn't come today, so on the behalf of both of us…I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry." She spoke before bowing again.

"Thank you Sarada… and as a word of advice for you," Daichi said after putting a hand on Sarada's shoulder getting her attention again.

"You should learn to be nicer even to strangers… You never know one day there could be a new man in your life." He spoke causing her blood to boil intensely as she held back her eyes from changing in reaction, however Sarada suddenly noticing the nurse from before; as she looked as if she was going to hit Daichi over the head, quickly saw the keys dangling in her hand making her realize it was Boruto in disguise as he was able to grab the keys from him unnoticed.

Relieved to now be able to leave, Sarada rushed the conversation as she needed to walk away before she exploded with anger on Daichi just like Boruto was about to do."Right thank you." she forced herself to say to Daichi, before she ran off quickly to maximize the distance between her and him.

Daichi watching her leave in a hurry, as he had a returned stern look on his face; turned back to talk to the nurse again, however seeing her already gone he looked around as she had disappeared completely from his line of site.

Further down the hallway as Sarada continued to run while wiping away tears from her cheek, soon found Boruto running right beside her; before he tried to get her attention after hearing the harsh words Doctor Daichi had to say to her directly.

"Sarada are you okay?" he asked after the pair came to a stop, while he ditched some of the clothes he had borrowed for his disguise. "Sarada I'm sorry I didn't know the guy was that bad," Boruto apologized since he wasn't aware how bad things were.

"It's okay "Sarada spoke sadly as she still felt the sting of his words, as she tried to shake them away.

"Look if it makes a difference, you don't have to bribe me anymore so… forget the homework thing and the prank thing." Boruto said while looking away, since he had to hide the blush on his face.

Sarada looking at him as he was obviously trying to cheer her up, felt a little bit comforted to now have someone be on her side as she looked back to him gratefully. "Thank you Boruto… You still have the keys?," she asked next after wiping her cheek one more time.

Boruto holding out the shiny keys as he grinned back at her; put them back into his pocket as the two took off again to make there way back to Daichi's office once again.

"I see now why you hate him… We'll make him pay." He reassured to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Outside**

Outside in another place, Sasuke walking down a narrow pathway after he passed by several old unfamiliar structures; began checking the numbers of the buildings first, before he stopped to pull out some paper from his pocket as he checked over its contents. Sasuke glancing over his own writings, after seeing he was now less than a mile away from his intended destination was in the process of tracking down a possible suspect; since he wanted to investigate a bit more before he needed to pick up Sakura a little later.

However Sasuke thinking about his date with Sakura, after he turned the paper over in his hand; stared back at the other side of the note, as he looked at Sakura's handwriting causing him to recall the moment he received the message.

 **Sasuke's flashback**

While Sasuke got ready to leave the Hokage's office as he made sure to clean up his mess by putting back his borrowed books; the Uchiha found as he was finishing up, his bird returning back to him as it landed down on a closed book he was reaching for grabbing his attention.

Taking the note from the bird before he allowed it to go on its own freely, Sasuke opening up the paper next saw it contained Sakura's anticipated reply to his earlier note; as he began to read the message out loud.

 _"Sasuke-kun I'm glad you found a new lead this is wonderful news, we've been having more and more patients coming in sick today. It almost feels like it's increased more than before… I have the autopsy for Mr. Ito scheduled for tomorrow, hopefully then I'll have some helpful results. Find out what you can and I'll do my best here. .. Don't work yourself to hard and don't forget about tonight…Sakura._ _"_

Sasuke seeing Sakura's poorly drawn out heart at the end of her words, as it caused him to have a slight grin come over his face just looking at the not so great art; checked his time next as he was reminded that he still had 4 hours left, before he needed to meet up with her later. Sasuke after receiving the note rushing to leave the Hokage's office, while he reached up to turn off the room lights; found himself glancing back at Naruto's desk one last time, as he thought about Sakura's comments regarding another increase of patients coming into the hospital sick.

Knowing the increase surely meant Sakura would be overworking herself even harder than before, Sasuke gritting his teeth thinking about this; made his way back over to Naruto's desk before reaching for Sakura's note turning it on the other side before he began to write an address down on the paper. Sasuke putting the paper into his pocket once he was finished before he walked out of the door, decided that he wasn't surprisingly tired enough to rest or sleep; since he needed to push himself a bit more to investigate, especially now that he felt he was one step closer to not only helping Sakura with the cases but saving potential and current victims of this unknown sickness.

 **End flashback**

Sasuke turning down an isolated road before he lastly finds the address he had written down in question, see's despite the run down area he was now in; that the address had brought him to an unexpected book store causing him to look questionably at the building. However as Sasuke glanced at the structure and the closed down shops around it, he quickly hears coming from inside some disturbing commotion; as the store owner tried to reason with an unruly guest.

"Please I beg you take what you want and leave." An elderly man spoke as he held his hands up to show he wouldn't fight back.

"Look I told you before I don't want your stuff… I'm here for something else," Another younger man spoke up, while he cocked his head up with a severe look.

"Please leave me in peace…" The owner protested as he didn't want any trouble.

"Look old man I'm just doing what I was paid to do, I tried to do this the nice way but… You give me no choice," The male spoke before pulling out a weapon.

However the intruder feeling a hand grip onto his tightly, caused him to look back startled to see a red searing eye staring back at him; before he quickly went flying off into a book shelf knocking him out completely cold, after the shelf came falling down on top of him forcing him down for good measure.

 **Hospital**

Back at the hospital after Daichi handed over a piece of paper to one of the nurses he had been speaking to earlier; the nurse looking down confused after grabbing the sheet, was unsure for his reasoning of giving it to her again since she already gotten the information she needed from before.

"I'm sorry Daichi Senpai, what was this for?" she asked before she handed it back to him.

"Didn't you come back looking for this?" He asked her in bewilderment, after seeing her questionable expression by her not remembering back to their conversation.

"No doctor I got it earlier… Don't you remember?" She said before seeing him look surprised, before watching him next begin to pat down his sides almost in a frantic manner.

"It couldn't be." Daichi thought after going through his pockets, as he soon realized his pockets were empty and his office keys were missing. Nodding his goodbyes to the nurse as he left the room shortly after his discover, Daichi heading down the hall with an increased walking pace; made his way back to his office as he wanted to get there right away.

 **Daichi's Office**

After Boruto and Sarada got inside of Daichi's office with the help of Boruto stealing Daichi's keys, when he had disguised himself up like the nurse he had been speaking to before. The twosome moving around the room stealthily with the intentions of looking for any potential evidence on the distrustful doctor, found quickly at fist glance that his office didn't look any different than Sakura's; as it was neat and tidy much like what you would expect from a doctor.

Sarada disappointingly not finding anything abnormal in Daichi's office at first glance, before she walked over to his desk next; went through some of the desk drawers collectively, only finding minimal papers that weren't anything out of the ordinary or suspicious to her. However Sarada going through the last of the drawers as she shuffled the papers around, quickly see's that there was a old hidden picture that caught her eye; as she picked it up to see by surprise it contained a image of a young boy and Sarada's mother as a kid.

Looking at how old the image seemed to be as it had to be at least over 15 years old, Sarada examining her new finding more closely could see that the picture looked to be around the same time her mother began her training in healing under Tsunade; since not only was the photo taken in the hospital but her mother seemed to be helping with a young patient, as he seemed to be cuddling with a small stuffed bear and a big smile.

Sarada beginning to put the picture back where she had found it before stopping herself, had a great concern for why Daichi had this hidden in his desk; especially since the boy in the picture looked nothing like him or had any relation. Thinking unpleasantly next that maybe he had kept the image of her mother all these years, to look at when he was alone like some sort of stalker. Sarada taking the picture with her as she put it in her pocket put the rest of Daichi's things back where they belonged as she continued to search the rest of the office.

Boruto also helping Sarada with her agenda while he worked on keeping an eye out for the doctor, had purposely set up one of his own kage bushin to keep a look out at a different spot; since the pair needed to know when he was coming back after noticing his keys were missing.

However Boruto soon witnessing from further away, Daichi almost rushing down the hall in order to get back, forced him to get Sarada as the two needed to stop and leave in a hurry before they were caught by him.

"Sarada let's go." Boruto spoke up rushing her to leave.

"Okay just a few minutes." Sarada spoke while finding another piece of paper that caught her attention.

"He's rushing we don't have a few minutes," Boruto explained as he forced Sarada to leave after making her drop the paper, causing her to become annoyed as she had no other choice but to go along with Boruto.

Once the pair were out of the office, Boruto locking the door up before leaving the keys on the ground; tried to make it look as if Daichi had dropped the key as the two left to hide behind a nearby corner, right before seeing him less then a second after they hid as he rushed towards his office.

Sarada watching Daichi as she was upset by leaving early, without reading over the paper she had found; watched him next picking up the keys from the floor before rushing inside his office right away.

 **Bookstore**

Elsewhere after Sasuke had tied up the incapacitated thief before leaving him by the door temporarily, as a result of saving the mysterious old shop owner from what looked to be a regular mugger. Sasuke wanting to help the owner clean up first as he unfortunately played a part in causing a big mess to his store, picked up the large book shelf that had fallen over for the old man; before he placed the books and items back in there previous place prior to him throwing the thief effortlessly around.

The shop owner overjoyed as he was grateful for Sasuke's help, since he was far to weak to pick up the book shelf himself; made a point to introduce himself to the Uchiha, as he was happy for the unrequested help.

"I can't Thank you enough young man, my name is Hideki… What is your name?" he asked causing Sasuke to realize how fragile he seemed to be, due to the great amount of shaking he had while he spoke. However needing to leave soon since he had other business to now take care of one being to turning in the mugger to be dealt with properly; Sasuke keeping his introduction short provided his name before he turned around to leave after. "My name is Uchiha… Sasuke,"

"Ah…So you are an Uchiha… I thought I had seen the last one ages ago… You're a rare one indeed." Hideki said before seeing a paper had fallen from Sasuke's pocket, as he slowly picked it up to hand over to him. But as Hideki held the paper shakily glancing at the writing as he stopped for a moment, he speedily recalled recognizing something off of Sasuke's note as he adjusted his glasses before speaking.

"Fumetsu… Itaru? Excuse me are you looking for this man?" he asked next causing Sasuke to stop and turn around, since not only had he written down the address from the paper but he made sure to take the name down of the person he had been looking for as well.

"Do you know who that is?" Sasuke asked in response after walking back over to the man and taking his paper from him.

"Hai…He use to work at the shop here with me...," he said after putting his hands behind his back.

"Where is he now?" Sasuke inquired since he was now intrigued by the old man.

However Hideki looking around cautiously before he nodded for Sasuke to follow him to the back of the shop; made Sasuke conscious he was wary about saying something, even with the shop being empty with only really just the two of them. Sasuke first checking back on the tied up man as he was still out cold, decides to follow Hideki to the back; especially since the mugger wasn't going anywhere any time soon and he still had some time to speak with him.

"Sorry for the secrecy… But it's not something I like to discuss out loud," the man said once Sasuke met him in the back, as he out of hospitably offered him a drink to which Sasuke declined.

"Well now let me see…" Hideki commented while he moved around the room next painfully slow, before stopping after pulling out a dusty book from a small shelf; before he blew on the object causing a large amount of dust to fly off of it.

"To answer your earlier question, I haven't seen Itaru in some time and… I'm afraid I don't know where he has gone off to now." He continued after walking back towards Sasuke.

Sasuke letting out a worried sigh next after watching the man make his way slowly back to him, began to worry if he was going to be able to tell him anything about Itaru; especially since he seemed to be unsure of his location. However seeing the man handing him the book he had pulled out while he kept his cool composure, Sasuke unsure of why he had handed it to him; decides to go ahead and speak with him a little longer, since he wanted to shed some light on what he was so cautious about.

"This man Itaru…His name was on a flyer in the Hokage's office he was reported missing a few months back… Do you know why he's missing?" Sasuke asked trying to see if speaking to the man will have any leads, as his available time was dwindling down to two hours.

"I think I have an idea why… Me and Itaru go way back, we both grew up and came from the same small clan. But that was a long time ago and there aren't many of us anymore," he said while sitting back in his chair.

"Anymore of you?" Sasuke said concerned by the context.

"Our village use to be some ways away from Konoha, we were a very small clan so we weren't as well known like you or the Nara's, or Akimichi's … But we too like the Uchiha's faced a similar struggle," he paused pointing for Sasuke to open the book.

"Similar struggle?" Sasuke thought before doing as the man requested by opening up the book.

Once Sasuke opened and turned the first page of the old book the man had handed to him to examine, looking at it right away Sasuke could tell it was a visual picture book; as it contained old photos of people standing in groups as well as individual pictures.

As Sasuke turned the next page however, seeing a particular picture catch his eye next as it stood out to him above the rest; he saw the image contained the man he had been looking for, but he seemed to look a bit younger.

"Itaru?" he questioned before the Hideki interrupted him.

"Yes that is him… I should say more correctly, we faced the same tragedy as you the Uchiha's… My clan was massacred many years back, because just like you our clan was also very special… To those that knew about us," He answered before rolling up his sleeves.

Sasuke looking at the man's arms after they were exposed to him, was shocked to see several puncture wounds and scares on him; making him look like a living pin cushion with all of the old marks.

"My full name is Fumetsu Hideki and just like in Itaru, our clan held a rare power however it isn't a conventional one like you would expect, it doesn't advance our strengths or our eyes. But it's something that lies dormant in our blood." He paused while motioning for Sasuke to turn the page of the book, as he soon landed on another old picture this time it was a larger group photo containing not only Itaru but Hideki as well proving he was telling the truth.

Sasuke noticing even in the picture he saw that Hideki was old then too; as he had looked almost the same but with subtle differences. Saw Hideki gesture for him to pick up the picture next, as he quickly did so turning it around on the backside; before shockingly witnessing that it was dated over 60 years ago, as he looked back at the man in pure astonishment.

"You?" he mouthed out still trying to understand what he was looking at.

"Ah… yes I haven't changed much in all this time, I still look pretty good eh?" he said with a chuckle as he moved around in his seat. "Though I'm no spring chicken now … My clan was named as we were perceived to be long ago… People that new about us thought of us as immortals… You see my clan had a special gift … The gift of long life," he said with a smile.

* * *

 **Sorry for the cliff hanger the chapter turned out to be really long so i broke it up to make sure there was no confusion, a lot of stuff is going to happen its almost a turning point in the story; I will post the next chapter up soon since this and other one were going to be together hope you enjoy its getting mysterious now. Lots of good stuff to come.b :P  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"A clan of Immortals? I've never heard of such a thing," Sasuke spoke up as he was unsure of what the old man was telling him was possible; even after seeing the proof of the image.

"And I don't suspect you would young one, our clan is very very old and pretty much extinct now with the exception of me and Itaru, despite us having this so called title of being immortals… You know I always hated the name it isn't terribly accurate, we do eventually die and we age normally like everyone else just more slowly after we reach adulthood... I even believe at the time our clan's life expectancy, could last anywhere from 140 to 180 years from what I could remember." He paused to look up happily.

"1…80 years?" Sasuke questioned shockingly before putting the picture back in the book and closing it. "You mentioned your clan being massacred… What happened?" he asked next as he looked at him with a serious expression.

"Umm... Back then many years ago when I was a younger man, a doctor came to our village… He said that he had stumbled on our clan and had heard only rumors of our long life expectancy… So naturally being a doctor he wanted to study us, to find the reason to something at the time that we didn't even fully understand… What was it about our clan that made us live so long.

Well as you can expect the Leader of our clan was wary about sharing our secretes with this stranger, but the doctor was ultimately very convincing; he had explained his reasoning's for studying us was in interest of helping those that were sick and dying and he had needed our help. So for our clan we allowed him to do as he wished, mainly because back then we were very peaceful people and trusting which was our greatest fault and downfall.

Before we knew it the doctor had left and came back with his research equipment and he set up a place to work as he watched us on several different occasions, he studied what our diet and our daily activities which we were okay with. However the longer he stayed, the more he seemed to want more and more from us, he started to request blood samples and shortly after he had wanted some people he could test on; to see how our bodies handled things like exhaustion and illnesses.

Ultimately all of the testing and demands made the doctor ware out his welcome even with us, and so our leader requested for him to leave our village and never come back. As you could imagine this didn't go over well with the young man and so he did come back but this time he wasn't alone, he had brought with him an arsenal of ex Shinobi he had hired; and they soon took our peaceful village and began to turn it into a living nightmare.

During the takeover our leader was murdered right away, and the doctor's true nature and intention's were revealed as he had explained that he had been obsessed with finding us all of this time. He had claimed that he was helping others but in reality he was only doing it for himself as he believed in us that he had found the fountain of youth sort to speak.

After that we were treated like cattle, constantly experimented on and made to go through a number of his torturous experiments … We were exposed to a lot," Hideki spoke while rolling down his sleeves.

"That's where you got the scars," Sasuke commented before the old man continued.

"Though we survived many of his testings on us, the doctor saw from his further results that the rumors weren't true about us being truly immortal as several of our people lost there lives; including my mother, father and … little sister," Hideki paused once again this time, while removing his glasses to wipe his teary eyes.

Sasuke not saying a word as he could easily understand Hideki's pain as he gave him a moment to compose himself; knew he had obviously gone through a lot in losing not only his people but his family as well. Sasuke equally having lost his own clan mates and family just like him once before, couldn't think or imagine it now that he was an adult what he would do if it were to ever happen again; especially since he knew if anything were to harm Sarada and Sakura, he would surly seek revenge and kill without a second thought.

"Sorry it's still hard to think about even after all these years…" Hideki spoke before putting his glasses back on. "Eventually... Through his experiments the doctor did make his discovery that our long life was due to something in our blood that held the key. But despite his efforts and the valuable lives lost he could never figure out how to harness this special trait of ours," he added next

"So he was the reason your clan was killed?" Sasuke asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"Not necessarily he played his role of course… But the doctor died before our clan was irradiated. You see one day he was so fed up with his failures that out of desperation, he had decided to inject himself with a broken down version of our blood. However shortly after he had injected himself he became sicker and sicker and ultimately left to seek medical treatment to which he died not long after.

The doctor ended up going back to his village which was here in Konoha, and I suppose word had gotten out after his death, he had died as a result of coming into contact with us. In a sense it was a truthful accusation, we were the reason for his death but not in the way it was portrayed. By the doctor injecting himself willingly with our blood it caused his death unknowingly for him… You see, in us our blood prolongs our long life span and helps us fight of illnesses and infections, but for others not born of this clan it truly becomes like a virus or illness and causes the body to attack itself.

Despite this truth because of the misunderstanding, it was then thought that our clan was hazardous and that we carried a deadly virus. So it was decided we were to dangerous to be left alive and so began an attack on our clan out of fear, and one by one our village was burned down and our people were killed." He said after taking the book from Sasuke as he went to go put it back in its spot.

"It was truly a terrible thing what happened… Luckily for me and Itaru, we were able to escape along with a young couple; though I heard sadly they were found and killed a few years back as well. So me and Itaru being the last ones alive waited a couple of years, before we seeked out refuge here in Konoha right under everyone's noses and had lived a moderately free life in spite of all that has happened. ..So I believe Itaru may have left because he thought someone had discovered our identities and wanted to get out before anything else could happen." Hideki said while patting his back.

"And you? Why are you telling me this you would put your trust in a stranger?" Sasuke asked letting him know that her reviled his secret to him a natural resident of Konoha.

"Old habits die hard for an old man like me I guess, but seeing you put yourself in danger for me a stranger shows just how much of a kind heart you have and a good person you are… Besides unlike Itaru I've lived my life, if the Hokage sees fit to end it I have no other choice but to follow his wishes." He said surprisingly with a content grin.

However Sasuke smirking at his comment while thinking of the current Hokage, looked to Hideki as he tried to reassure him there was no concern. "I'm not as nice as you think…But times have changed and the Hokage now is beyond merciful… That guy wouldn't do something like that in a million years. Thank you for shearing your story with me… " Sasuke paused as he decided to fill Hideki in on his true intentions.

"The reason I ended up here is because I wanted to speak with Itaru concerning if he had any connection to something I've been working on. My wife is a doctor and there has been many ongoing cases of sickness going around without any known cause and people are starting to die. Do you think Itaru is related to this? Maybe to get back at Konoha?" Sasuke questioned.

"It can't be for certain, it is true Itaru had a hate for Konoha even after living here, but I can't imagine he would hurt others that weren't involved with the massacre of our clan years ago. However there may be a way to tell if it in fact is something connected to us, I recall when I had asked the doctor what he was looking for back when he was experimenting on me; he told me that he found that our blood cells were abnormal that they were bigger and different in shape. I'd be willing to donate some blood if you need but maybe there's a way your wife could test to see if its dormant in one of those sick people you mentioned."

"You would be willing to have your blood tested after all that you've been through?" Sasuke asked unsure he knew what he was offering.

"Yes… I hold no grudge against Konoha. The action of one person shouldn't be blamed on others, when you get to be my age it gives you a lot of time to think things over and to forgive those that need to be forgiven." He spoke while looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke looking at the man before he looked down himself, understood his meaning when thinking about his own personal reasons why he was away from the village and away from his family. Since even now he still felt guilt from his previous sins and was constantly doing what he could to atone for them.

 **Hospital**

Elsewhere as Sarada and Boruto made there way outside, leaving the hospital making most of there personal mission successful. Sarada still feeling annoyed she didn't have more time in Daichi's office went into her pocket before pulling out the picture she had found as she was still very curious about it.

"Where did you get that?" Boruto asked after seeing her looking over the picture.

"I found it in Daichi's office it's my mother but I can't understand why he had this, the boy looks nothing like Daichi." Sarada questioned before putting it up.

"Well didn't you tell me they knew each other as kids, your mom and the doctor maybe it's his family or something." Boruto said as he put his hands behind his head.

"I don't know… Hey Boruto thanks for today, I'm going to head home and do a little more research I'll let you know if I find anything… See ya" Sarada said with a overly cheerful smile as the two soon parted ways.

 **Bookstore**

Once Sasuke and Hideki finished speaking with each other after retuning to the front of the shop, as Sasuke needed to drop off the mugger off before he had to leave; found himself soon taken aback at seeing the man he had knocked out was no longer there, as he looked to have escaped while Sasuke was distracted listening to Hideki's story.

"Damn … Sorry I need to find that man, if it's okay I'll be back tomorrow; before I have to patrol the hospital." He said to him before leaving the shop.

Sasuke annoyed now as he trailed after the man, to not only capture him for his wrong doings but also to ask him some questions; knew the mugger wasn't there to just rob Hideki, since he had a feeling much more was involved.

 **Hospital**

After finishing up her long hours of work, as Sakura's shift at the hospital was lastly over; having brought some extra clothes in order to change for her date. Sakura having changed in the ladies room decided to wear a shin length red dress, while she put on matching red lipstick finishing up her sexy looking ensemble.

While Sakura examined herself in the mirror being sure to check the back of her dress for any wrinkles, hearing the sound of the door opening up behind her; Sakura could see in the mirror another fellow nurse walking in, before she quickly pointed out how surprised she was to see Sakura getting dolled up and wearing make up for the first time.

"Sakura is that you wow…You look gorgeous," the nurse spoke making Sakura aware of her which nurse it was.

"Ah…Mrs. Izumi? Thank you." She said while blushing as she felt strange being outside of her work attire at work.

"A hot date tonight?" Izumi asked inquisitively while putting a hand up to her chin. Sakura curling her lips trying to hide her excitement looked down before pulling some hair up as she decided to put it in a messy but cute bun.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun is picking me up for dinner tonight," she said happily while securing her hair.

"Well look at you, acting like a teenager again aren't you… I hope it's a wonderful date," Mrs Izumi said before heading over to one of the bathroom stalls.

Smiling at the compliment, before changing out of her work shoes into the shiny elevated high heels. Sakura reaching for the rest of her things as she turned to leave, found herself stop quickly at seeing Izumi rushing back over to her; as she tried to give her something before going to the bathroom.

"Here…I almost forgot …There you are," She said after reaching into her purse and handing her a paper.

"What is this for?" Sakura asked unsure of the parchment as it contained an address.

"Oh... Sarada-chan came by and she said you wanted to know where I get my shoes, so that is the address for the shop I go too... They have amazing shoes." She spoke happily while shuffling around. "Oh I need to use the restroom now…will talk later okay, let me know how your date goes," Izumi said while scampering off to the bathroom next.

"Sarada?" Sakura questioned before examining Izumi's shoes herself, causing her to raise an eyebrow just looking at them; since from what she could tell they looked pretty hideous.

Feeling curious to hear about Sarada as Sakura assumed maybe she meant, she had spoken to her from the day prior; Sakura quickly finding her attention change as she checked the time, left the bathroom quickly as she needed to go outside in order to wait for Sasuke.

Once Sakura got outside of the hospital, as she stood by the front door for a few minutes waiting; seeing no sigh of Sasuke as she still had sometime to spare before his arrival, made her way over to the nearby bench next before sitting down.

Sakura let out a relaxed sigh since she had already needed to rest her feet , due to her still not being completely comfortable wearing high heeled shoes; since she had only really used them for special occasions.

 **Uchiha house**

Back at the Uchiha house as Sarada made her inside, after stopping by the library after leaving from the hospital. The young Uchiha grabbing one of her family photo albums before she went into her room, laid out her research material on her bed; before she lastly pulled out the found photo in Daichi's desk, since she was determined to get to the bottom of why he had this photo since he purposely seemed to hidden it.

 **Hospital**

While Sakura continued to sit on the bench waiting, as she waived goodbye to some of her coworkers that were leaving for home. Sakura initially not surprised by Sasuke being late, felt bothered that it had almost been two hours as he hadn't contacted her or shown up at the hospital.

Feeling sadden by him not showing up, as she wondered if maybe he had forgotten all about meeting with her; despite her mentioning it vaguely in the letter. Sakura reluctantly getting up to head for home found a familiar face close by, when she saw Daichi standing there; since he seemed to be off of work wearing his normal clothes.

"Sakura-san why are you here by yourself?" he asked once he had her attention.

"Daichi-kun,…I'm just waiting on Sasuke-kun to get here." Sakura said sadly before looking down embarrassed for him or anyone to see she was stood up.

"He hasn't come for you yet? Do you want me to wait with you?" He asked while he got closer to her.

"Umm…its okay, you should head home. Are you done with work already?" she asked trying to be cheerful in her tone.

"Well you took care of the bulk of the patients today; they've finally sent in a few extra doctors to help so there's plenty of staff today. Are you sure you're okay?" He said while trying to gauge her expression.

"Of course, I'll be okay he may have forgotten anyway he's been busy working a lot." Sakura admitted out loud, while she knew she still needed to head home to check on Sarada anyway.

"You know… I know it's not proper but I think we should go get some food together …as friends of course." Daichi spoke with a big grin.

"Daichi…I" Sakura said before Daichi quickly interrupted her before she could say anything else.

"Sakura-san look I'm indebted to you for speaking with me the other day, so I'd like the opportunity to return your kind favor… and besides I would hate for your beautiful outfit to go to waste, come on I know I could use a drink or too… Shall we?" He offered after handing out a hand to her.

Sakura hesitant about taking his offer, as she looked at the time; since it was definitely now too late for Sasuke to show up after the second hour had finally passed, let a semi frustrated breath before nodding her head to the doctor's request.

"Sure" She spoke before the two finally took off.


	11. Chapter 11

******Update: Posting Chapter 12 tomorrow morning.****  
**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Restaurant**

Once Sakura and Daichi arrived to the restaurant of Daichi's preference, the pair being seated quickly as they ordered food and drinks; enjoyed their meal with one another while they talked happily. However Daichi attempting to order another drink, as he tried to waive his hand for a waiter; found himself knocking over his half drunken glass of wine on himself, causing not only him to chuckle but Sakura as well as she hurriedly handed him her cloth napkin while he tried to dry off the wine.

"Ah haha…I'm so clumsy you think me being a doctor, I would have had better coordination." He spoke up while setting his glass down and wiping himself off with the napkin.

"I know what you mean," Sakura laughed before a waitress came up with a refill for Daichi after seeing him spill his drink.

"Here you are," The waitress spoke while she handed him a new full beverage.

"Thank you I guess you saw me spill my drink back there too." He said to the female while grabbing his glass.

"It happens so often now I always keep an eye out for you to spill it…So Daichi is this her?" the waitress asked next, while she looked at him with a wide grin.

"Ah…" he said hesitantly as he didn't really seem to want to answer. Sakura however catching the strange vibe as she looked at the pair was curious, of what kind of relationship they had since she obviously knew him well.

"Do you two know each other?" Sakura asked with a smirk, as she was happily intrigued by the pretty waitress.

"Yes… Where are my manors…Sakura-San this is Saori, she is my cousin." He added as he wanted to introduce them.

"Oh…Nice to meet you… I'm Sakura," she said cheerfully to her before she started to bow, however Daichi speaking up before she could say anything else; got to work on introducing the waitress to Sakura as well.

"And… Saori this is Sakura-san, we work at the hospital together." He added with a big smile looking back at her.

"Oh…It's finally nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you," Saori said before noticing she was being called by another table. "Sorry I'll be back okay." She spoke before rushing off to attend to her other guest.

"Daichi-kun I didn't know you had any family here," Sakura commented next, since she had assumed he was there by himself as he had never mentioned much about his past.

"Yeah it's just really her though … My parents passed away some time ago," he spoke as he took a sip of his drink. "Umm this is really good…Would you like another one?" he asked her after seeing her drink was getting low.

"No I really shouldn't." she spoke as she tucked some lose hair behind her ear.

"Sakura-san… I'm sorry your husband couldn't be here, I know I'm no comparison to him but… I must say you really do look lovely tonight," Daichi said in a lower voice as he stared at her before taking another sip of his drink.

"Daichi-kun you really flatter me to much," Sakura chuckled before seeing his tone change with his words.

"No really I remember you made the same gesture just like you did that day I first met you," he said before finding himself stop at saying too much.

"We've met before?" she asked confused as she couldn't pinpoint seeing his face.

"Well I guess the cats out of the bag now so to speak but… I know you may not remember me but a long time ago, back when I was a young troubled kid you helped me… You actually saved my life" He added while looking at her with a serious face.

"Really?" Sakura thought while trying to remember to something so important. However Daichi seeing she was having a hard time trying to remembered chuckled before he tried to relieve her conscience.

"It's okay if you don't remember I didn't suspect you would, it was so many years ago…But its something I'll never forget I remember back then you were on a mission at that time; and my family ended up getting killed by a bunch of bandits and you had saved me from certain death, I can never return that favor that you've done for me. That was the reason I became interested in healing and soon wanted to become a doctor, I wanted to help others just like you had helped me." He spoke while looking down.

"Daichi-kun…" She said somberly as she felt bad for anyone that had lost a parent, but Daichi interrupting her obvious deep thoughts after throwing some ice at her from the extra water glass on their table; caused her focus to change back to him as he seemed to have a big smile on his face despite telling her his story.

"Hey I didn't tell you this so you could feel sad for me, I told you because I wanted to thank you. "He said while rising up his wine glass. "To great friends," He spoke next while showing his perfect teeth in a wide face grin.

"Right," Sakura second while doing the same.

 **Outside**

While Sasuke continued his search for the mysterious man whom he had been tracking down after his escape from Hideki's shop as he rushed to recapture him again; Sasuke finding himself strangely unable to sense the man's chakra, as he seemed to disappear almost out of nowhere. Made the Uchiha rightfully apprehensive about the so called mugger, since he now wasn't as ordinary as he appeared with his potential ability to manipulate his chakra in order to hide from even his keen senses.

Sasuke however soon stopping after coming up to an open market, found he now had hit a new snare; as the unexpectedness of the large mass of shoppers made it tricky for him to hunt the man down, since he now had to get through a crowd of moving bodies blocking his path.

Keeping his vigilant red eye open, while he tried to move through the crowd speedily; Sasuke thinking in the back of his mind about how the man had easily made his escape from him. Made the Uchiha rightfully irritated with himself, especially considering for him being being a top shinobi it was a rookie mistake to make on his part; as he had underestimated the man greatly which he instantly regret.

In spite of this Sasuke continuing through the crowd of people, as he tried to get by them as quickly as possible; felt next a man suddenly bumping into him noticeably, causing him to look back at the careless person whom continue to walk on without the bother of apologizing for acting so haphazardly.

However Sasuke watching the man walk away as he was coupled up with a giggly female, while the pair laughed and held hands together; caused his eyes to widen greatly before he sharply looked for the time, as he had only now regrettably remembered he missed picking Sakura up for there date.

Feeling remorseful as he had no other choice but to let the man go, Sasuke cursing under his breath once again; decided to hurriedly head towards the hospital's direction, in hopes of seeing if Sakura was still there waiting for him as he was completely at fault.

 **Restaurant**

Finishing up her wine as she continued her talk with Daichi, Sakura seeing the time on Daichi's wrist watch as she had been at the restaurant for longer than she needed too; quickly thought about Sarada as she needed to head home, since she had anticipated her daughter being extremely worried about her.

"Daichi-kun sorry I should be going now… I need to check on Sarada," She said before seeing him soon nod his head and waive for their check.

 **Hospital**

Once Sasuke finally got to the hospital as he didn't see any sign of Sakura there waiting outside for him, he quickly rushed inside; since he had assumed that maybe she was still working. However seeing a nearby nurse that had looked familiar to him, Sasuke walking up to her in order to ask her about Sakura's whereabouts; tried to not to let it slip that he messed up big time with forgetting to pick her up as he did his best to speak casually.

"Excuse me… Have you seen Sakura?" he asked after getting her attention.

"Huh? Oh are you … Are you Sakura's husband?" the nurse asked after putting on her glasses, since she was a much older woman.

"Um," Sasuke responded before seeing her getting closer to him, causing him to tilt back over the unexpected closeness.

"Well no wonder why she doesn't mind you being gone… You are so handsome." The nurse spoke happily while looking him up and down.

"You know you and my grandson are about the same age, I told Sakura that I had some extra clothes that may fit you and.." the nurse went on while looking around him as she was trying to check his size.

However Sasuke feeling beyond uncomfortable with the nurse's open examination of him as she pulled at him, quickly coughed into his hand as he needed to get her full attention for a more important matter of where Sakura had gone off too.

"Ahem... I need to find Sakura, Do you know where she is?" he asked interrupting her after getting her attention.

"Oh why didn't you say you were looking for her… I think she left over an hour ago she isn't here. Sweetie," The nurse answered back, before noticing Sasuke suddenly disappearing much to her disbelief.

Sasuke leaving the hospital rushingly after he made a decision to head for home next; knew Sakura could have only been in one of two places since she obviously had already left work. However the Uchiha finding himself worried about her possible reaction to her thinking he had forgotten about her despite what truly happened couldn't help but gulp nervously, since he knew he had to come to terms with his mistake as he needed to talk too her face to face.

 **Restaurant**

While heading out of the restaurant with Daichi after he paid the tab for their meal, Sakura finding herself feeling more than a little woozy after walking out of the front door of the restaurant; quickly realized while going over in her head how many glasses of wine she had consumed, that she was way more intoxicated than she had anticipated being. As she found her center of balance misleading causing her to stumble over her own two feet.

"Are you okay?" Daichi asked hurriedly, after catching her before she had fallen to the ground; stopping her from possibly hurting herself.

"Sorry," she said timidly after feeling self-conscious of her weakness; since she had never really been drunk too much in her life, unlike her teacher Tsunade who was notorious for her drinking.

"Sakura-san …Should I walk you home?" He asked before letting go of her arm once it looked like she had her balance again.

"No… I'm fin…." She spoke before stumbling again this time however as a result of one of her heels braking. "Damnit," Sakura cursed drunkenly as she sighed over her luck.

Sakura having no choice but to remove the troublesome shoe also took off its twin as well, since she very well couldn't walk with only one; leaving her ultimately no other choice but to walk back home barefooted much to her embarrassment.

"Sakura-san normally I would leave you to be on your own, but this time I'm afraid I need to insist," Daichi said after seeing her removing both shoes.

"Umm… Maybe your right," Sakura agreed since she admittedly knew she was better off in her inebriated state to have someone with her opposed to being by herself despite her being able to take care of herself.

After Sakura allowed Daichi to walk with her, as the two were making good timing heading back to her home. Daichi walking slightly ahead of her as he lead the way back, couldn't help seeing while glancing behind him; Sakura starting to have a hard time keeping up since not only had her pace slowed dramatically the more she staggered, but she also became noticeably distracted looking up at the night sky while giggling playfully.

Seeing the full effects of the alcohol taking affect as she had lost her normal composure he was accustomed to, Daichi becoming aware next of the drop in temperature; made him equally concerned by Sakura still walking without her shoes since he worried she would catch a cold.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Sakura asked next after stopping suddenly, seeing Daichi had stopped in front of her.

Daichi lowering himself down to the ground in a crouching matter, after he got Sakura's attention with his action; motioned for her to get on his back since they were still some ways away from her house and he didn't want her walking on the ground anymore without proper foot protection.

"Come on this will be faster plus… You'll catch a cold walking barefoot." He said trying to convince her of the benefits despite how it may come off.

Sakura reluctant to take his offer since it seemed strange for another adult to get a piggyback ride; knew he was ultimately right in his thinking, since she was feeling drunker than before and was having a harder time walking as she felt more than a little liberated.

 **Uchiha house**

After Sarada closed her book she had gotten from the library, as she didn't find any real leads to help her find out who the boy was in the picture. Sarada coming to a stand still as she wasn't sure what to do next, thought about her options before hearing the front door suddenly opening up; causing her to hide her things hurriedly before she left her room to greet her parents.

However Sarada seeing that instead of both parents, that it was only her father she looked at him questionable as she wondered where her mother was.

"Papa?" she said before seeing him looking back at her just as surprised.

"Is Sakura here?" he asked cautiously as he looked around waiting for her to scold him for missing their date.

"No she never came home…I thought she was supposed to be with you… Wait you don't know where she is?" Sarada said in surprise, as she was highly dissatisfied to hear this.

Sasuke however staying mute to her inquiry as he knew it wasn't something she wanted to hear, saw right away that she was beyond concerned for her mother; as she rushed over to the phone to try and locate where she was.

"I'm calling Ino-san," Sarada said before she used the dialed pad of the home phone next. Since she already had gotten her answer judging off of her father's silence, Sarada knew the best and only other person to ask about her mother's whereabouts would be her best childhood friend Ino.

 **Outside**

While Daichi carried Sakura on his back, with her broke shoes dangled in her hands loosely over his shoulder; Daichi walking slowly as to not drop her, found Sakura giggling again before speaking to him drunkenly.

"Thank you Daichi-kun," she said before she leaned over his shoulder.

Daichi blushing at having her so close to his face, as he cleared his throat looked to his side to answer her back as he was getting closer to her house.

"Sakura-san it's really no problem, you'll need to drink some water once we get you home." He said before needing to adjust her weight on him as she slipped a bit.

"Umm…You know I don't know why… Someone wouldn't want to marry you?" Sakura said next suddenly causing Daichi to stop as he looked at her in surprise.

"Maybe your girlfriend doesn't think she's good enough for you." She said as she suddenly became a bit angry over it. "You're very kind and …. Ah toilet," She said before she patted a frantic hand on his shoulder to put her down, while she placed a hand over her mouth.

Daichi letting her down right away, after he rushed her over to a nearby trash can watched her put hands on either side of the object, before seeing her stop just shy of throwing up as it was more so a false alarm on her part.

However seeing her in her sicken condition as he watched her not tolerating drinking very well; Daichi taking out a napkin he had taken with him from the restaurant from his inner coat pocket handed it over to her. Before seeing a nearby store still opened as he decided to go and get her some water, so she could start hydrating herself; since she was most likely going to have a hang over the next day.

"I'll be right back stay here… Let me get you some water." He said to her before taking off, as Sakura waived for him to go ahead and leave.

Once Daichi returned back to where he had left Sakura, seeing her sitting on a bench waiting for him he next handed her the bottle of water; as she quickly took the much needed beverage drinking the whole bottle in a matter of seconds, impressing him greatly as she downed the drink almost like a grown man.

"Thanks Daichi-kun,'" she spoke before trying to walk on her own however almost tripping over her own feet again as she ripped the side of her skirt, Daichi taking off his coat let Sakura wrap it around her waist before he returned to carrying her on his back as he continued trying to get her home.

"Your not one for drinking are you?" he asked jokingly as they continued to take her home.

"Umm..." She moaned as she began to get sleepy.

"Sakura-san… I have a confession; I haven't been 100 percent honest with you. It's true I did have a girlfriend who I loved and wanted to purpose to… But I broke things off with her, I told her I was in love with someone else… and the ring I bought was a ring intended for.." he spoke before hearing some loud labored breathing.

Daichi checking back on Sakura as she had fallen asleep on his back, was stunned that his confession went on death ears. However seeing her peaceful sleeping face despite being drunk, caused Daichi to fixate on how pretty she looked under the moonlight as her pale skin and pink hair were almost vibrant.

"Sakura…" he said with a calm smile.

 **Uchiha House**

"Really? Okay thank you Ino-san." Sarada spoke before hanging up the phone and turning towards her father.

"…She doesn't know where she is and she hasn't talked to her at all today." She spoke directly to him with an even more worried face. "Papa we should go look for her, this isn't like here." She added next hoping he understood this wasn't something that was normal for her.

Sasuke looking back at Sarada's beyond troubled look now that Sakura seemed to be truly missing, knew this latest information would be disturbing for any daughter to hear about their mother; especially since she would normally have let someone know if she was going to be late or going somewhere after work.

 **Sasuke's Flashback**

Sasuke listening attentively to Hideki's story as he revealed about his clan's misfortunes and his willingness to help towards finding a possible cause towards the strange sickness plaguing Konoha. Thanked the old man properly as it was his own choice, to reveal such a secret to him ultimately putting his trust in a unknown stranger.

"Thank you for telling me about your story." he said before getting up to leave. However feeling Hideki pull on his arm, caused him to turn back around towards him as he seemed to be concerned about something.

"I will help you anyway I can but… I warn you now, if someone is using Itaru or his blood. This person may be very dangerous so please protect your loved ones and watch over them closely." He spoke as his hands seemed to shake with his regretful tone.

Sasuke looking at Hideki with a serious expression, could only nod his head towards his words as he definitely wasn't going to let anything happen to his family now if it's the very last thing he did.

 **End Sasuke's Flashback**

Sasuke's eyes beginning to narrow at thinking back to his conversation with Hideki first before he soon recalled his conversation with Naruto; concerning the hospital now being considered a focal point towards there investigation as the unidentified culprit may be around or in the hospital. Sasuke beginning to feel alarmed with Ino's confirmation she had not heard from Sakura all day, decides to go off in search for her in case she may be in some danger; despite her being able to take care of herself.

"Papa what's wrong, what happened to mama?"Sarada asked after seeing her father rushing for the door, before she too tried to get her shoes as well; since she now knew something was wrong at seeing him moving so hurriedly out the door

"Wait I'm coming with you." she said next after his lack of response to her question, as she without hesitation followed behind her father out of the door

However once the two were outside of the house with neither Sarada nor Sasuke having a direct clue of where to begin there searching. Sarada and Sasuke catching a moving silhouette heading in their direction as it was slightly off in the distance, caused Sarada to rush towards it since she didn't want to wait to see if it belonged to her mother.

"Mama?" she questioned once she was close enough, until she found herself stopping abruptly at seeing that not only was it her mother, but she seemed to be passed out in the arms of non other than Daichi causing her eyes to change over seeing the man again.

"Oh Sarad…" Daichi began to speak, after seeing her but Sarada extremely on edge stopped the man right away since she was mere seconds away from attacking him right then and there for harming her mother.

"What did you do to her?" she questioned as she tried to figure out why the two were together.

"Sorry she drank a bit too much." Daichi replied quickly as he knew his life depended on it based off of Sarada's severe look.

Sarada not believing Daichi's accounts for what happened for a second, as the picture presented to her was extremely questionable, with her mother being unconscious holding her broken shoes and having a ripped skirt.

Sarada however suddenly wondering about her father's reaction to what she was seeing next, as she instantly froze up at thinking about what he would think of this unknown man carrying her mother in comparison to her own reaction. Turned around quickly to gauge his expression, as she was concerned herself not with Daichi but this possibly affecting her parent's relationship.

"Papa," she said before seeing him standing there eyeing Daichi.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Sarada worriedly watching her father looking at Daichi holding her mother, before turning sharply to see Daichi also making disturbing eye contact with her father; made her wary of the unanticipated situation, as she decided to quickly rush over to her father instinctively to reassure him that her mother seemed to be okay for the most part.

"Papa I know this looks bad but, its okay mama's only been drinking and," She started to explain to him before noticing the doctor surprisingly getting closer to the pair; causing Sarada to stop after sensing his close presence and now possible open death wish.

"Uchiha …Sasuke I presume," Daichi said to him directly, making Sarada next narrow her eyes at the deadly implications of his known attitude towards her father; as she definitely wouldn't be saving him.

"Gomen… I know it's not an ideal situation speaking with you directly like this, but I was treating Sakura-san to a meal; since she helped me out the other day… Though I didn't take her for a light drinker," He spoke hurriedly before kneeling down, making Sarada act quickly catching his hint to help her from the doctor's back.

"Mama…" Sarada spoke trying to wake her up before seeing her mother's eyes gradually stir open a bit. "Are you okay?" she asked next before seeing how red her mothers face seemed to be.

"Sarada?... My… lovely daughter." She said in a giggly tone, before reaching to wrap her arms around Sarada's neck proving Daichi's words for once were accurate, since Sarada could easily smell the alcohol on her mother's breath.

Sasuke looking down at Sakura before looking up at the Doctor without as much as a word or thanks, saw next the man bowed before turning to leave promptly; since Sakura was now in the care of her family.

"Ja ." Daichi spoke after turning his back and waiving a hand, while he gradually increased the distance between himself and Sasuke.

Sasuke watching him leaving on his own, before seeing Sarada start to struggle getting her mother up on her own two feet; decided to finally step in to help as he quickly scooped Sakura up in his arms in order to bring her into the house much to Sarada's relief.

 **Outside**

As Daichi walked away from the Uchiha house while putting one of his hands inside his pocket, the doctor clicking his teeth in reaction to seeing Sasuke`s non changing facial expression towards him; made him undue the tight neck piece of his buttoned up collared shirt, before pulling out a small phone from within his pocket next in order to make a prompt phone call.

 _ **Ring**_

" _Hello_ …" The voice on the other side answered immediately after only one ring.

"Is it done?" Daichi asked as he continued his walk home

"I… Well… There was a complication and." The voice said nervously causing Daichi to stop walking as he was silent for a few moments.

"Sir I'm Sorry I'll try again tomorrow." The voice said frantically.

"What do you mean complication?" Daichi asked in a more serious voice.

 **Uchiha Bedroom**

Almost an hour after finally stirring awake from her sleep as she sharply sat up in bed, Sakura grabbing her mouth in quick response after finally waking up; hurriedly ran to her bathroom, since she was in great need of it as a result of her slamming the door urgently behind her.

Rinsing out her mouth to rid herself of the intrusive liquid, Sakura splashing some much needed cold water on her face next tried to recover her full bearings; before she painfully reached up for her throbbing head, making her agonizingly aware she was experiencing a very unwanted symptom of drinking too much since she was definitely having a hang over.

"What happened?... I only remember going to the restaurant." She spoke to herself before looking down to see that she was still very much in her dress she had put on from before.

"ITA…" she said in quick response after feeling the continued pounding of her head persisting more causing her to reach into her medicine cabinet, in order to take something to relieve the mild annoying pain before she finally left the small room.

However Sakura shutting the door behind her after exiting the bathroom, found a second headache coming on after the first one began to fade; after her eyes met with the tall silhouette of her husband, obviously waiting on her to come out of the room as he spoke immediately once the pair had made eye contact with one another.

"What were you thinking?" Sasuke almost yelled after getting her attention, since he in truth had been watching over her since he brought her inside.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura questioned to herself with squinty eyes over his loud voice, since his volume caused her headache to enhance sharply making her instantly regret ever touching the wine she had drunken with Daichi.

"Answer me… Where were you?" Sasuke asked next after not getting an initial response to his first question, especially since he knew she had heard him based off of the strained look on her face.

Sakura however quickly recalling prior to dinner how upset she had been with Sasuke for standing her up on their date; since she used it as fuel to drink more than she normally would have, continued to walk past the Uchiha instead of responding to his questions since she wanted him to know she hadn't forgotten what happened with her cold response behavior towards him.

"Hey," he responded after seeing her dismissal of him, before he stood up to reach for her wrist to stop her from freely walking away without a word.

"Do you know how worried Sarada and I have been about you?" Sasuke added in a louder voice as he tried to get her attention.

However Sasuke feeling Sakura pull her arm away from him as she seemed to get visibly angrier watched her walking staggeringly over to her dresser next as she shuffled through her clothes in an attempt to obviously grab something to change into.

"How worried you've been? You're one to talk," Sakura finally spoke before she began too undue her dress, however finding herself strangely struggling to take the garment off as it stuck to her like glue while she tried to get it over her shoulders. Sakura becoming frustrated with the unforeseen challenge due to her still being inebriated tried to hide her frustration, from her tone as she didn't want to ask Sasuke for help.

"I can take care of myself." She said quickly while struggling some more with the outfit.

 **Hallway**

Outside of Sakura's and Sasuke's bedroom, while Sarada tried to listen in on the beginnings of her parent's conversation through the other side of their door; after catching just how loud they seemed to have been speaking to one another too the point of yelling.

The young Uchiha nervously biting down on her thumbnail in reaction was concerned about her parents fighting due to Daichi's unexpected appearance; since she knew him being there with her mother would have understandably stir up some mixed feelings, of what may have really happened between the two of them.

 **Uchiha Bedroom**

"Sakura?" Sasuke begin to speak before seeing her throw the dress on the floor after finally getting it off of her head.

"Besides… I was suppose to go out to dinner anyway, and poor Daichi only really asked me too get food because he saw that you had stood me up, I was waiting on you like an idiot…. And, and speaking of that… Where were you?… Baka!" Sakura yelled after turning grabbing some clothes as she got changed into her night clothes heatedly.

"Baka?... " Sasuke questioned to himself, since he had already anticipated that she would be highly upset with him.

However Sasuke understanding Sakura's frustrated feelings towards him, as he tried to speak more calmly after initially being irritated on his own at being worried for her whereabouts; wanted to make his answer back to her clear, since for him missing their planned date was by no means intentional on his part.

"… I was following up on that new my lead I told you about earlier, I was able to get some helpful new information on the case and I believe it may lead you to the break through you were looking for. But while I was getting the information there was a complication that unfortunately made me lose track of time." Sasuke admitted as he still felt annoyed with his amateur mistake.

Sakura slowly turning around to look back at Sasuke after hearing his accounts of what happened felt confusingly unsure of what to say next, since for one she was more than excited to hear they now may have a chance to put a stop to this unknown illness. But on the other side Sakura still felt she couldn't be entirely happy with the news over her very sore feelings about Sasuke not contacting her or at least telling her that he needed to cancel their date.

 **Hallway**

"Maybe… This is my fault." Sarada said to herself after hearing the rest of the conversation, since it was her idea in the first place to make her father promise to pick up her mother up for a personal date.

Sarada not completely intuitive in the full workings of adult relationships, since she had tried to do everything she could to push her parents to spend time together from the time her father came home. Felt all the good she had tried to do over the last few days, had now only seemed to make things worse for her parents instead of help..

 **Flashback**

"Thank you Sarada… and as a word of advice for you," Daichi said after putting a hand on Sarada's shoulder getting her attention.

"You should learn to be nicer even to strangers… You never know one day there could be a new man in your life." Daichi added slyly.

 **End Flashback**

Sarada becoming conscious of the fact that she may have inadvertently pushed her mother and Daichi closer together after the date fiasco with her father, before she stepped away from her parents' door clinching her fist in frustration; realized upsettingly next that her family bond was now truly being tested, causing her to retreat quickly to her room next.

 **Uchiha** **Bedroom**

"Sasuke-kun I don't know what to say," Sakura finally spoke somberly after a few moments of silence, as she found her eyes looking down after staring at him for some time.

"This is so wonderful news…All of the work you and I have been doing is really important, and the possibility of a way to cure people is astounding…. But to be honest I can't be as happy about it as I want too… You standing me up today without even a note or calling… was truly embarrassing." She paused while after feeling her anger drift away.

"…Sakura," Sasuke said softly after noticing her looking away.

Sakura hearing him calling out her name, while she grabbed at the sides of her arms in response; found a surprising tear run down her cheek as she felt she still wasn't in control of her emotions with the added effects of the alcohol.

Sasuke however seeing her looking gloomy after watching her angered phase noticeably pass, wanted to comfort her right away after seeing just how upset she was by his actions; as he slowly made his way over to her before embracing her in a hug while he pulled her into his chest.

"Gomen," He spoke even softer than his last words, as his grip tightened around her.

Sasuke not wanting to let go of her now that she was safe at home; couldn't help recalling Hideki's story while he held her, since in him learning she had possibly disappeared he was worried that something may have happened to her, especially with the very real lingering threat at work with unknown capabilities.

"I know you're upset with me… "Sasuke said next after slowly pulling her away as the two made eye contact with one another.

"But you need to be more careful and as for our date…Let me make it up to you." He added before lowering his towering height down towards her tiny frame, as he leaned in closer to her half parted lips.

However Sakura stopping him from kissing her as he was mere inches away from her lips, had put a hand to chest reluctantly; since she didn't want to start anything up without reflecting on her sobering feelings about the matter later.

"Sorry," she said after biting her bottom lip, since she in truth really wanted the kiss physically but, she still felt reserved and withdrawn from everything that had transpired in over the short period of time despite Sasuke's credible reasoning.

"Sasuke-kun, when I'm less drunk I want to hear the details you've found tomorrow, but I'm a bit tired now and I think it would be best if we both put our full attention on the mission for now." She spoke since she knew if there was another situation like this, neither of them would be able to concentrate on their lines of work properly.

Sasuke pulling back from her before seeing her walk over to their bed, watched her get under the covers before turning off the light as she turned in bed while visibly trying to get some sleep.

Sasuke not saying anything else, as he had anticipated being in the dog house as punishment; decided to leave the room for her to rest on her own, as he wanted to give her some space while he instead went into the living room.

 **The Next Day**

Early the next morning outside, as Sarada made her way through a familiar shopping area as she passed by several vendor stands some which were surprisingly empty despite a good crowd of people out and about shopping. The Uchiha puling out a folded up cloth from her pocket, looked at the material closely before running her hand over the embroidered stitching on the cloth as she recalled finding it after she woken up.

 **Flashback**

Opening her eyes tiredly after finding herself incapable of having a decent nights rest, Sarada sitting up in bed sluggishly while she looked at her clock for the time; saw it confirmed just how early in the morning it had been, since she still felt more than a little exhausted physically and mentally. Reaching for her glasses next after rubbing the sleep away from her eyes Sarada getting up from her bed, found despite her exhaustion she was strangely unable to go back to sleep; as she instead wanted to see if her parents had already left for the day, especially since she hadn't recalled either of them stopping by her room yet, to tell her they were leaving for the morning.

However leaving her room after she got dressed and ready, Sarada making her way to her parent's room yet again; found just like she had anticipated both of her parents were already gone for the day. Since not only was their bedroom door wide open, but the bed was made up neatly which for Sarada was a clear sign her mother had left for work since it was something she did every morning.

Sighing at this before she made her way to the kitchen next, Sarada still feeling distressed by the latest outcome of events to happen too her family; tried to think of how to make things better before they could get any worse while she worked on making herself something to eat.

Once Sarada sat down at the dinning room table by herself while she tried to eat what she could, seeing Daichi's coat sitting on the back of one of the chairs; caused Sarada instant disgust as she turned up her nose at seeing the plague like object, since Sarada despite feeling at fault for the date, still blamed the doctor greatly for his interference with her family.

Getting up from her seat right away as she was unable to concentrate on eating with the coat staring her in the face, Sarada reaching for the garment quickly stopped after seeing something on the ground catch her eye as she reached down to grab what looked to be some thin material.

Seeing on further examination that the object in question was a cloth napkin, Sarada opening up the folded material, was amazed to see it had something written on it as her eyes got wider trying to read it out.

"Wait…This restaurant? " she questioned before recognizing the name being the same as the restaurant, Daichi had visited after purposing to his fiancé back when she had spied on him before.

Feeling curious with the man's choice of restaurant as she suspected this was the place he had taken her mother to eat, Sarada staring at the material for a few moments longer before tilting her head to the side. Began to think intriguingly next about the fact that Daichi's so called fiancé happened to be a waitress at the restaurant; before realizing not only would she know what may have happened with her mother and Daichi the night before, but she may hold the key to finding more out about the strange doctor.

 **End Flashback**

Sarada retracing her steps from the day she had followed Daichi, as she soon left the shopping area in direction towards the establishment; had decided after leaving her house that she wanted to get some direct answers from Daichi's fiancé, in hopes of not only helping her parents come back together again but also exposing him for what he is; as she was going to make it known to his intended about his strange closeness with her mother.

Sarada secondly pulling out the picture she had found in Daichi's office from her pocket as she had brought the object with her to ask the waitress about; had admittedly wanted to show it to her mother and father the night before, but seeing as they had bigger things to worry about Sarada decided against it for now since she still had no other proof to go on or additional information to support her claim just yet

While Sarada contemplated in her mind next on how she would approach her self driven mission as she thought of different ways to get the information she needed. The Uchiha suddenly stopping after locating the restaurant, found herself gulping anxiously before recognizing a woman outside of the building as she appeared to be taking out the trash catching her interest right away.

Seeing she now had the perfect opportunity to speak with the waitress Sarada immediately approaching the woman got her attention as she was determined to speak with her.

"Excuse me?" Sarada spoke up to the woman, causing her to jump at being startled.

"Oh! I'm sorry you scared me…Yes how can I help you?" She asked as her demeanor seemed to be friendly, which had caught Sarada a little off guard.

"Ah?…Sorry I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment?" she asked hesitantly causing the woman to look at her with a confused expression.


	13. Chapter 13

*****Update: Posting chapter 14 Friday *****

 **Chapter 13**

 **Flashback (Chapter 5)**

"Sasuke-kun…?" Sakura said in reaction to him unexpectedly jumping in the shower with her, before feeling his arm snake quickly around her waist pulling her in closer; causing her to gasp over his sly action.

Sasuke not responding to her questioning tone as he concentrated more on not only her blush filled cheeks but her captivating green eyes staring back at him. The Uchiha seeing the emerald gems looking slightly away from his own piercing gaze; knew in truth this had been the first time he had taken initiative to jump into the shower with her, in spite of the many years of marriage the couple shared making Sakura understandably a bit anxious over his odd behavior.

"What about Sarada?" Sakura thought to ask him next, after she worried her daughter would come looking for the both of them in their now compromised state.

However listening mutely to her verbal concern as he couldn't help grin at the cautious look she gave, Sasuke intuitively lifting up her chin with his knuckle; forced her full attention back towards him before; little by little lowering his face closer to hers shortening the distance between the pair as it made her instantly forget about her worries.

Chuckling to himself at seeing how compliant Sakura became the closer he got to her anticipating lips, Sasuke finding his eye now focusing on the awaiting flesh, watched the warm water from the shower drip from them almost seductively; making him desire to quench his thirst as he pressed his own lips firmly against hers in a powerful but gentle long awaited kiss.

Feeling a moaning vibration coming from Sakura's mouth, the moment the pair's lips had finally connected to each other, Sasuke feeling Sakura wrapping her arms around his shoulders next; felt the full warmth from her water drenched body, as she pushed closer to him making him moan as well at the contact from their bodies intertwining with one another.

Soon switching places in the bath, while the couple continued their overdue make out session, Sasuke feeling the water from the showerhead begin to soak his back and hair; found his locks next falling messily in front of his face. Before feeling Sakura finally pulling away from his aching lips to let out a giggle, much to his disappointment at losing the warmth of her mouth on his.

However Sasuke seeing Sakura wordlessly looking at him with a smile, before he felt her move his wet hair away from his eyes; as she began to slick the shoulder length tresses back fully exposing his full forehead; could see she had stopped purposely to help him see, since she had witnessed the water messing with his hair and sight the moment they switched places.

Happy with her loving action before finding her hand touching his cheek, Sasuke watching Sakura's digits begin to move downwardly as she slowly moved past his neck and collarbone; felt her hand trailing down the sculpted slick abs of his abdomen; as she seemed to fixate on the visible contours of his moving stomach, with the help of the water trailing down his skin making them abundantly clear.

Enjoying the feeling of his wives exploration of his body, while he closed his eyes in taking pleasure in her gentle touch, Sasuke however feeling Sakura's hand trail dangerously lower found his eyes open back up quickly before reaching out to stop her movements since he didn't want to let her have all the fun with him just yet.

Reaching for the shower loofah next after he made sure to lather it up generously with soap, Sasuke rubbing the object on Sakura's naked skin first began to trail it down her collarbone tenderly; mimicking her earlier menstruations on him from before, while he made sure to let the loofah do its job proficiently as it saturate her already wet skin with bubbly suds

Sasuke lathering up her chest while putting his attention on Sakura's left breast first, ran the sponge over the sensitive fleshy skin unhurriedly before feeling through the thin material her hardening pink bud underneath as his hand grazed passed it, as he made his way over to her right breast making sure to give it the same equal amount of attention and soap.

"Umm..." Sakura let out before closing her eyes, as she took enjoyment in feeling Sasuke's personal attention to detail while washing her.

However Sakura finding her eyes shooting open after feeling him devilishly placing some soap on the tip of her nose, found herself laughing affectionately back at his playful action; before grabbing the loofah for herself since she felt now he was having too much fun at her expense.

Sakura taking control of the object, while tenderly repeating the affection he had showed her by soaping up his chest first, lowered the sponge down his solid abs next before stopping briefly after seeing just how visibly enthusiastic he had been with their personal time in the shower together; since his lower half was unanimous in this thought.

Feeling content with his continued attraction towards her, even after all these years; Sakura slowly washing his lower half along with his hardening length under her touch. Turned Sasuke around to face the running showerhead, before beginning to wash his back as she like always admired his strong physique; since his back was very much like his front in terms of being faultlessly muscular under her touch.

However Sakura slowing her pace with the sponge, after she let her hand rub the soap into Sasuke's pale perfect skin, had halted her action all together before lowering the soaked sponge; as she abruptly stopped washing the Uchiha's back without direct notice from him.

Sasuke preoccupied with letting the warm water wash the foamy suds down his front side while his hands assisted with washing away the bubbles, used his hand next to wipe some of the excess water from his face; before suddenly stopping his action after feeling Sakura unexpectedly hugging him strongly from behind making him look to his side in response.

"Anata… I missed you." Sakura said while holding his waist tightly.

Sasuke looking up at the stream of water before turning his full attention towards Sakura, grabbed for under her chin while kissing her harder than before; as he decided to speak with his actions, since it was louder than his words could ever be. Sasuke finding his overly strong kiss pushing Sakura back up against the shower wall, next went for her clean neck next as he bit and sucked at the tender flesh; before feeling Sakura cling to him passionately as her hand draped over his shoulder again this time for physical support.

"Sasuke…kun," Sakura said in a groaning manner after feeling her back being pushed up against the cool shower wall, while she bit down feverishly on her own bottom lip over Sasuke's tactical assault on her neck.

Sasuke finding his own attacking lips becoming lazy, while he let his hand trail down Sakura's leg before guiding the slender thigh over his hip; couldn't help but lose his hyper focus on her neck, after he felt the wanting heat between her legs overly distracting him, causing him to ultimately pull his mouth away to gain better composure.

However feeling Sakura reaching for his freed lips as she took care of keeping them busy much to his delight Sasuke next lifting her off of her feet, caused Sakura to wrap her other leg around his waist; as he the two held onto each other strongly, while kissing each other passionately with the water sprinkling over their naked bodies.

"Sasuke-kun...Sasuke…Sasuke…"

 **End Flashback**

"Sasuke…Sasuke…" The Uchiha heard in real life, before snapping out of his dazed off state to see Shikamaru looking at him with a confused face.

"Ah sorry, Naruto is free now I'm going on patrol." Shikamaru spoke before leaving shortly, as Naruto came out of his office to waive for Sasuke to follow him inside.

Sasuke walking into Naruto's office after waiting on him to be free for some time, had wanted to fill the Hokage in on his newly found information about Hideki and his clan; before he himself made the trip back to the old man's shop, since he had to leave so abruptly the night before.

"Have a seat," Naruto said tiredly after he moved around some papers that were sitting on the chair over to his now messy desk.

Sasuke taking a seat as he was amazed to see in such a short time Naruto's office was back in disarray in spite of him straightening things up the day before; found himself sigh in mini relief at not choosing being a Hokage as his profession, as it definitely seemed to be an overwhelming job, despite the strength portion of the job not being a problem for him.

"So…. I received your message last night I have someone watching that shop, what is going on?" Naruto finally asked since Sasuke had sent him a hawk, earlier without little details.

 **Hospital**

At the hospital while Sakura checked in on her recently admitted couple's vitals, after she had advised for them to stay for further observation; found within her assessment of the pair's individual conditions that the female seemed to have taken a more serious turn for the worse over her male counterpart. Since in only the few mere hours of being at the hospital, the female had come down with a dangerously high fever, while the male only had a horrible cough and chills which was still a cause of great concern for Sakura.

Finding herself perplexed over the different symptoms, the two seemed to be having from one another despite them both getting sick at the same time; Sakura looking down at some vials of blood she had taken from the couple willingly, wanted to take extra precaution by grabbing the samples now since she needed it for further examination, as she next pulled out a note she had kept in her pocket.

 **Flashback**

Once Sakura woke up after hearing the annoying sound of her alarm clock going off next to her bedside, the Uchiha finding herself still very out of it since she didn't get much rest from the night before; realized after turning over in bed that Sasuke hadn't slept in their room with her, as this caused her to get up immediately to check on not only his whereabouts but her daughter as well.

Getting dressed before leaving her own bedroom Sakura opening up the door to Sarada's room, carefully walked inside before seeing that she had fallen fast asleep while still wearing her red glasses. Sakura smiling lovingly before making her way over to her daughter as she went to remove the signature lenses from her face, couldn't help but notice after setting them aside; Sarada clutching onto the family photo of them together with Sasuke making her eyebrows knit at her having the photo in bed with her.

However taking the picture away with care from her hands, before she set it on her bedside table along with where she had placed her glasses; Sakura putting a hand on her daughter's forehead before gently caressing the side of her face, bent down next to kiss her on the head since she didn't want to wake her up.

"Sarada… I'm sorry to worry you. Your papa and I are just fine," Sakura whispered, as she knew Sarada had obviously been worried with the two of them fighting the night before.

Leaving the room after shutting the door behind her quietly, Sakura making her way into the living room was shocked to see Sasuke was still home, as he looked to have fallen asleep on the couch much to her surprise. However in looking at his sleeping face as the likeness to Sarada's matched perfectly Sakura smiling for a bit at this, had felt regretful for wrongfully getting angry with him; since she didn't keep her normal understanding composure like she had done several times in the past.

Huffing under her breath before walking over to him after she grabbed an extra blanket to cover him up, Sakura kneeling down beside Sasuke before moving some hair away from his sleeping face; knelt down to kiss his exposed forehead as well before caressing the side of his cheek devotedly.

"Baka…" She said quietly, as she still had a great affection for him regardless of him doing things from time to time that irritated her.

However seeing a paper on the table grab her attention as Sasuke looked to have been working on it before falling asleep, Sakura looking over its contents found her eyes grow in size; as Sasuke laid out for her what he had found out and its possible relation to the recent cases of sickness.

"…Fumetsu Hideki?" she questioned before looking back at Sasuke.

 **End flashback**

Sakura looking at Sasuke's note, as she wanted to test the blood she had gotten in comparison with the blood sample she had left over from her patient that had passed away Mr Ito. Sakura hearing a beeping frenzy next, as the female started to seize up suddenly; quickly called for assistance as she put down her things to help her right away.

"Wait…What's happening… Erina?" The male called out after seeing his girlfriend in dire trouble in the hospital bed next to him.

"It's okay stay in bed, we're taking care of her... "Sakura reassured him before while she rolled up her sleeves, as the nurses came promptly to help along with separating the couple with the curtain.

However Sakura seeing the female's temperature on a sharp rise again in spite of it already being high, was worried about her body over heating; as she needed to quickly cool her down immediately, making her have an idea before hearing a nurse speaking to her.

"Sakura-san what should we do?" The nurse asked as she tried to asses the situation.

"We need to cool her down before she experiences brain damage, we need Ice… Get ice now Hurry…" she ordered, as she checked her racing heart rate.

"This is no good we have to do something… Before organs give out from stress. " She said next to another nurse.

 **Restaurant**

Elsewhere inside the restaurant as the waitress poured a fresh glass of water for Sarada before sitting down on the other side of the table from her; the pair looking at each other silently for a few moments as the atmosphere became awkward, forced Sarada to nervously coughed into her balled up fist, before finally speaking up; since had waited for the waitress to take her break from her shift in order to speak with her personally.

"Thanks again for sitting with me," Sarada said while forcing a big smile.

"Sure its no problem, you were mentioning something earlier… About wanting too get a gift for a friend of yours? What makes you think I would know what to get a stranger?" The waitress asked confused by Sarada seeking her out.

" Right…Well you see the a day or two ago I was shopping and I happened to see him come in here I only stopped by for a second but I thought you may actually know him… His name is Daichi." She said after taking a drink of water, since Sarada in truth decided to fib about her true motives until she could speak with the waitress more about what she knew.

"Daichi ? Wait you know Daichi?" The waitress asked happily as her demeanor changed after hearing his name.

"Umm… He helped me at the hospital with some great advice and I wanted to return the favor by getting him a gift, but I didn't know what I should get him." Sarada said while keeping an eye on her surroundings just in case he was to show up unannounced.

"Well in that case…Let me see… He is a hard one to shop for, he doesn't like too many things now a days," She spoke while putting a finger on her chin, before Sarada happened to see the flowers he had brought sitting on a nearby table.

"Those flowers? There pretty did he give them to you?" Sarada asked inquisitively after recognizing the wilting buds.

"Oh those? Yes he did…" She said before Sarada interrupted her after her answer.

"You have a nice boyfriend to bring you flowers like that." She spoke up while watching her expression change.

"Boyfriend?" the waitress questioned while looking at her strangely.

"Don't boyfriends give flowers and things like that to their loved ones?… Even rings?" Sarada questioned purposely to see how she would respond.

"Oh I'm sorry you misunderstand… Daichi isn't a boyfriend he's my cousin, he brought those flowers as a favor to me for the restaurant. We had a surprise proposal from a wealthy customer and I was supposed to get the flowers but silly me I forgot them… and he went to go get them for me." The female spoke causing Sarada to be overly surprised as her eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Then… He's not your." Sarada yelled after shooting up from her seat, causing a mini scene as the people eating around them stopped what they were doing to look back at her.

* * *

 **Definitely respect opinions voiced in the comments, I've personally have known people that don't see that someone is interested in them despite clear obvious signs but you know what to each his own :P, As for Sakura I think the later chapters will be much better especially for her character and will make up for the last chapter. I went in aware it was either a hate or like chapter, either way please enjoy this chapter and hopefully you give the story more chances things are going to get interesting! :D  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here is the next chapter still have some edits here and there hopefully, everyone enjoys.**

 **Chapter 14**

"Then… He's not your." Sarada yelled after shooting up from her seat, causing a mini scene at the restaurant; as the customers eating around her, stopped what they were doing to look back at her bizarrely.

Sarada recognizing her outburst had disturbed the people eating around her, on top of drawing some unwanted attention to herself; caused her to lower her head apologetically to them all, before quickly sitting down herself letting them get back to their individual meals.

"Ah… Sorry," she apologized too the waitress personally next. "It's just I saw him showing… I mean buying a ring the other day and flowers, and I just thought you were his fiancé he told me mentioned about," Sarada admitted before the waitress finally spoke up.

"Oh I understand now… Well about that, to be honest I had been nagging Daichi into taking a chance and finally purposing to a woman he had been seeing for a long time. Things seemed to be going really well for the two of them and she is truly an amazing woman… But I found out yesterday from her that apparently Daichi had broken things off sometime ago, so I think he never told me this because he didn't want to disappoint me; and him showing me the ring was probably to get me too stop bothering him about it anymore." She spoke while looking at her hands.

"Really?" Sarada said while surprised by her admission, as she now knew he had to be lying about other things as well.

"He's a stupid one sometimes… "The female said while huffing loudly. "But I guess looking at it now I just don't think he ever loved her as much as she loved him. I think his heart still belongs to his first love, he had back when he was young," she added in next, before taking a drink of her own water.

"First love?… Could you tell me a little more about him?" Sarada asked, as she wanted to find out if there was any other secrets to the man.

"I must say it's nice to see your interest in him… is it… is this possibly a crush over the doctor that you have?" she asked before giving Sarada a big wink.

"Eh? No way!… I mean I just figured the more I know about him the better I can understand him and..." She said while holding back her disgust over the question.

"Okay… Okay I guess you are kind of young to be interested in boys let alone a grown man, but I'm sorry I'm afraid there's not too much to tell you … I better get back to..." The waitress said before being interrupted by Sarada grabbing a hold of her hand. Since the Uchiha didn't want to accept this, as she quickly tried to persuade her to speak more.

"Wait…" Sarada paused as she felt herself become physically sick, over what she was about to say next; since she needed the waitress to tell her more.

"Sorry… Maybe I do… li…ke him and just want to get to know him better…You said you are cousins right? at least could you tell me what he was he like as a kid?" Sarada asked hoping the question would open her up to talking more.

"Well…" The waitress spoke hesitantly, before finally sitting back down. "I don't know too much about his early childhood… Like you said we're cousins, but I guess it's worth mentioning we aren't actually blood related. From what my parents have told me Daichi was a pretty troubled kid, always getting into trouble and very rebellious; but it's to be expected with his background." She paused while looking down.

"His background?" Sarada questioned while tilting her head.

"Umm… You seem like a really smart girl, so I'm sure you can understand the impact of losing a parent or someone dear to you could have. Well poor Daichi lost his birth parents at a really young age, and he was on his own for a while; eventually my Aunt and Uncle adopted him and tried to raise him as their own for a while. But unfortunately they too passed away and later after that Daichi came to live with me and my family." she spoke somberly.

"I'm sorry to hear about your family… What happened… To his parents?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm not sure of the assorted details when it comes to his birth parents, but for my Aunt and Uncle… I know to this day Daichi still feels responsible for their deaths. You see it happened around the time Daichi was ten or so, and someone had broken into my aunt and uncle's home late at night; strangely the robbers didn't take anything but while defending Daichi my aunt and uncle were unfortunately killed, while poor Daichi was left for dead after being injured in the attack.

While the ones responsible were never caught for what they did, the whole thing still makes me wonder; what kind of person could have done that to my aunt and uncle, they were truly wonderful people and would have help any one in need... And for Daichi the injuries he received in the attack that night were so severe he had honestly been on the brink of death, but by an act of god he was able to be saved by a young ninja that performed emergency medical treatment on him ultimately saving his life.

Shortly after all of that happened and he recovered after being nursed back to health, Daichi then came to live with me and my family; since we were the closest things to family to him." The waitress paused while sitting back in her seat reflecting over the painful incident; however Sarada seeing her suddenly chuckle caused her eyebrows to knit in confusion over the change in her behavior.

"Sorry to laugh its just …I was thinking about how Daichi ceases to amaze me, you figure going through something like that would make him scared or withdrawn from the world. But after that, he seemed to have a goal a true purpose in spite of what he went through.

He even told me not long after, that he wanted to help people and make them better and he almost became obsessed with becoming a doctor. But I believe the main reason was do to the young ninja that helped him." she added with a grin.

"Young ninja?" Sarada said to herself before recalling to her conversation back with Daichi.

 **Flashback**

"You know Papa and Mama have been together a long time, since they were kids even." She added in to make sure he was aware she was a married woman.

"Yes I know… I actually met your mother once when we were children, I don't think she remembers me though but I remember her." Daichi said in a reminiscent voice.

"Eh? You knew mama that long ago?" Sarada asked as she was more then surprised to hear it.

"Yes she's a wonderful woman your mother is, though I recall at the time your father didn't pay much attention or show interest in her at least the way I saw it. So I'll admit I'm surprised she ended up with him in the end." He spoke carelessly while keeping his eyes away from Sarada's.

Sarada scrunching her face at him almost bad mouthing her father, was shocked to hear him say such a thing especially to her of all people. However seeing him turn to face her finally, Sarada watched as his face quickly changed to an apologetic one as he waived his hands around frantically.

"Ah Gomen I don't mean anything malicious by that, I'm sure he's a good man to her… Anyway I need to go you'll be okay waiting for your mother right?" he asked before walking past her causing Sarada to watch him with an upset face.

 **End Flashback**

"Mama?..." Sarada said next grabbing the waitress's attention as she looked at her.

"Ah…Never mind me it's nothing," Sarada spoke jokingly as she tried to continue on," The young ninja did he ever tell you who it was?" she asked next.

"No he never did but… I'd like to think I'm pretty perceptive at times, so I have an idea who it is now in fact he actually came here the other day with a pretty doctor so I think it's her… her name was Sakura." She said with a big smile.

Sarada hearing her mothers name being said, as she instantly froze up found her eyes grow in size with having now concrete confirmation of what she had always suspected; however before leaving the restaurant as she grabbed at her pocket. Sarada pulling out the picture she had with her, decided to ask the female about it next; since it was still troubling her why Daichi had it from the beginning.

"Thank you for telling me a little bit about Daichi, I had one more question if you don't mind; I happened to find this… Do you know anything about it?" she asked before handing over the image to the waitress.

"This picture?" The waitress said with surprise of her own just looking at image.

"Sorry it's just I came across this and before I gave it back I was just curious to see if you knew who the boy was?" Sarada asked next.

"I don't know the girl… But this is Daichi before he came to stay with us." She said while tilting her head.

"Daichi? But how he doesn't look anything like this boy?" Sarada said not understanding how it could be him.

"Oops !…." she spoke after putting a hand over her mouth, making Sarada look at her worriedly.

"Ah man, Daichi would kill me if you knew I told you this he doesn't like anyone to know … But I guess since the cats out of the bag and just between me and you. This is how he looked before he had reconstructive surgery on his face." She paused, while she could see Sarada visibly shocked by the news.

"He didn't say why he needed the operation done; I think it was to maybe boost his confidence." She said before handing the picture back to Sarada.

Sarada thinking back to Daichi's features as she recalled seeing him the very first time, how eerily perfect he seemed to look; shot up from her seat once again. But this time in need to leave to go speak with her mother now, that she had enough information to confront Daichi once and for all.

"Sorry I really need to go I'm actually running late for something, but thank you again for speaking with me I know exactly what to get him. Oh I'm sorry I never got your name?" Sarada asked after putting the picture away.

"It's Saori… What was your name?" The waitress asked in response. "It's Sarada" she replied before bowing and rushing off.

"Oh…Okay bye Sarada-chan come see me again if, you need anything else… good luck." She spoke to her with a smile.

 **Hospital**

"I think she's okay for now," Sakura said after finally getting her patient under control, after a dangerous spike in her high fever.

"Sakura-san you are truly wonderful," A nurse assisting her spoke after taking over in monitoring the female's vitals, Sakura wiping away some beads of sweat from her soaked forehead; before giving a weak smile at hearing the comment found it fade completely. At seeing next from the other side of the pulled curtain, the female's boyfriend rushing out of his bed to be by his girlfriend's side despite his sickened condition.

"Please sir you need to rest," Another nurse spoke after struggling to get him back in bed.

"Erina!" The man called out towards his girlfriend, as she was heavily unconscious.

Sakura stepping back at seeing the man holding tightly onto his girlfriend's hand, as he wouldn't be persuaded to get rest or leave her side; caused her to remember back to her and Sasuke, after seeing the strong display of affection of the young couple shared.

 **Flashback (Chapter 5.)**

Grabbing a hold of the shower curtain with one hand, after initially holding onto Sasuke after he had lifted her up against the cool shower wall; Sakura biting down on her bottom lip hard forcing it to momentarily turn white under the pressure of her teeth, let out a low gasp under Sasuke's ministrations; as he rocked her up and down in conjunction, with the running water soaking their bodies much to her pleasure.

Sakura trying to catch her continually escaping breath, while she found her mind beginning to go blank; closed her eyes happily next since she had missed the feeling of being this close to him among other things. However wanting to take things somewhere else, as she began to kiss Sasuke once more; Sakura pulling her lips away more slowly while using her hands to grab at the sides of his face, got his physical attention as she found herself panting breathlessly just as much as him.

"We should take this to the bedroom," she spoke huskily, as Sasuke seemed to be in agreement after nodding his head before placing it up against hers gently.

Turning off the water before the two stepped out of the shower, Sasuke walking into the bedroom first while he dried his body and damp locks; sat down on the bed impatiently waiting, before seeing Sakura finally making her way out of the steamed filled bathroom as well. However Sasuke noticing a devilish smirk come over her face the moment he made eye contact with her as she tilted her head in response; watched on as she promptly dropped her towel to the floor first, before stepping over it next while she made her way over towards the Uchiha in a painfully slow manner.

However walking towards her husband, after seeing his anxiousness for her to get closer too him, Sakura soon straddling Sasuke's lap with her naked frame once she was close enough; wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders for support next, as she continued to keep unmoving eye contact with Sasuke as he seductively did the same.

Sakura next feeling Sasuke's hand come up on the small of her back hotly, before pulling her in closer much to her delight. Felt him next caress her cheek before running his hand through her damp pink hair, as his additional attention to detail and softness of his touch; made her hunger for him more as she decided to push him back on the firm bed, without much resistance from him.

However Sasuke feeling the same need for her, since he wanted to get started immediately where the two had left off of in the shower; instead switched places slyly with his wife, before spreading her legs apart and thrusting into her causing him to grunt at being reconnected with her once again.

Sakura smiling at this as she allowed Sasuke to do what he wanted with her body, instinctively wrapped her legs around his lower half next; while she relished in him not holding back in his desire, as his thrust were powerful and demanding making her to throw her head back in bliss while there bodies naturally did all the work. However as Sasuke's pace slowed and she felt him recapturing her lips in messy kisses, Sakura feeling his hand reach up to cup hers; made the Uchiha pay close attention to the intertwining of their fingers, since she had longed for them after him being away for such a long time.

 **End Flashback**

"What is happening with her? You said there was nothing to worry about." The male yelled at Sakura catching her off guard, as she mentally came back to reality.

"Please …We are doing what we can," The nurse tried to explain on Sakura's behalf, since she hadn't responded to the man's questions directly.

Sakura however looking at the man blankly, after recalling her personal alone time with Sasuke; triggered by merely watching the male clutching onto his girlfriend's hand tightly. Could see for herself the he was not going to accept the nurse's earlier response to him, as he kept his eyes fixed on her obviously wanting her to respond back to him. Sakura understanding of the man's reasonable anguish as she stepped closer to him, tried to reassure him while being honest; since she was going to do everything in her power to help the both of them.

"Gomen… I know your upset, but the truth is she's very sick and you are too. I don't know if I can heal you both, but I will do everything in my power to find out what this is and get you both better... That's a promise." Sakura said firmly since she didn't want to hide the truth from him, since now would be a critical time for the two too enjoy the time they had possibly left together if she failed.

The man stopping as he looked at her before lowering his own head down, didn't say a word more before he turned to his lover; while brushing some hair away from her eyes before coughing himself.

"You can't help her as you are now, so please rest I'll be back to check on you in a bit." Sakura said with a straight face, before leaving the room, as the nurse from before helped the man back into the bed.

Shutting the door from behind her, while she found herself breathing out noisily; Sakura rubbing her temples once again, found strangely the couple's case affecting her more than the others. Since she felt beyond frustrated she couldn't do more for them, especially considering if something like this were to happen to her and Sasuke. Sakura finding a tear roll down her cheek randomly in her thinking, before hearing next someone calling out her name, made the Uchiha wipe her cheek; as she continued to keep a strong appearance in spite of how she was feeling.

"Sakura-san, there you are," she heard, as someone came up to her with a notepad.

"Lilly, yes how can I help you?" she answered with a forced smile.

"I just wanted to remind you, that you were added to the scheduled autopsy for Mr Ito in thirty minutes, with Daichi." She said while checking through her papers.

"Yes thank you," She spoke while taking the paper she had handed off to her.

"Okay I was on my way to let him know now…Oh by the way I thought you may want to know there is a patient we have today that says she's a friend of yours." Lilly added while marking off something on her papers.

"Friend?" Sakura asked confused by the news.

"Yeah it's the Nanadaime's wife… Uzumaki Hinata." She answered.

"Hinata? Where is she now?" Sakura questioned after her eyes got larger.

* * *

 **Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's colleague with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Since there is still a lot of story left, I figured I'd start keeping a character list for unknown characters and potential new ones. Next chapter I'll put this information at the top.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Scheduling nurse

 **Since there is still a lot of story left, I figured I'd start keeping a character list for unknown characters and potential new ones.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Hospital**

"Hinata!" Sakura said after putting a worried hand up to her chest at hearing her friend had come to the hospital; since she was devastatingly aware she had been sick, and visibly showing the signs of having the same unknown illness that had been going around.

"Before I get going here is another paper I needed to give you, apparently starting today there is a new protocol. Orders from higher up I suppose, but you may want to read it looks like things are changing around here and…." Lilly paused after looking back at Sakura, since she seemed to be heavily troubled.

"Sakura?…" she questioned without getting a answer from her, as she seemed to be truly deep in thought. "Hey Sakura…." Lilly spoke again after snapping her fingers, as it did the trick in getting her attention; after seeing her surprised eyes looking back at her.

"Listen you seem really worried about your friend and you still have some time. Why don't you go visit her, I still need to talk too Daichi anyway." She said softly, as she could see the news of her friends' arrival had affected her.

"Umm... I'll do that," Sakura reaffirmed with a small smile to the nurse.

Before the two finally parted ways with the nurse in search of Daichi as she hurried off, and Sakura back into the room with the couple she had been working with; since she in truth needed to make sure they both were okay and stabilized.

 **Bookstore**

Straightening up some books in his shop after opening for business, Hideki working on sweeping the floor next as he moved around slowly with each step revealing more and more his elderly age. The old man hearing the faint sound of the front door bell jingling from the outside, caused him to perk up cheerfully on instinct; since it was the rare sign he had a visitor entering his shop, despite it still being so early in the morning.

"Hello there…How can I…" he said before turning around to see an above average sized man standing at the door. "…Its you?" he questioned after getting a better look at the man, and seeing that he was the same one that had came to the shop the day before.

"Listen this is nothing personal, I'm just doing what I was paid to do," The man spoke before tossing to the ground a Jounin that had been patrolling the nearby area per Naruto's orders, causing the man to freeze all together at this dire implication.

"I won't keep this long….But I need you to die." The man added next before unsheathing a hidden knife and walking towards Hideki with a sinister grin.

 **Daichi's Office**

Elsewhere while Daichi grabbed the handle to his office door after unlocking it first; since he had needed to drop off some important paperwork prior to heading off too his scheduled autopsy. Hearing someone suddenly calling out his name as it caused him to stop what he was doing all together, the Doctor very familiar with the person requesting his attention was soon greeted by the scheduling nurse typically stationed in the front of the hospital; as her rushing towards him made him intrigued by her abrupt unplanned appearance.

"Ah Daichi there you are… Wait one moment?" the female spoke from afar before getting close to the doctor in remarkable speed.

"Good morning Lilly, What did you need?" he spoke while putting his keys away, after she got closer.

"I'm glad I caught you there have been some slight changes… Since you are already scheduled for the autopsy on Mr. Ito, Mrs. Uchiha will now be joining you with this task today. Also there is a new protocol in place for the hospital starting today, so you may want to read it over." She said while handing him both sheets of paper.

"Sakura-san? I don't understand… I can do the autopsy myself." He said questioningly while looking at the nurse with a slightly irritated expression.

"Yes I know, but it was a special request by her to do so…. Did you have a problem with this?" She asked while eyeing him carefully.

"… No that's okay, if it was her request then that's fine but… Did she say why she wanted to do the autopsy?" He thought to ask after finally taking the paper from the nurse.

"Not really, she just said she was doing it for some research …. So you're okay with this change?" she reasked while waiting on his response.

"Yes… Thank you." He reassured with a forced smile, before seeing the nurse finally taking off in the same mad hurry she had dropped in on him with; leaving him on his own once again.

Making sure she was completely gone from his sight, before turning around himself to go back into his office; Daichi glancing over the paperwork Lilly had handed him as he looked more than a little concerned by the change, the doctor however hearing his personal phone begin to ring next, caused him to set the document down as he went to answer the call promptly.

"Hello?" he answered before recognizing the voice immediately.

"Daichi- Kun? I was just checking to see if you were still coming by to eat dinner later today," a female voice asked.

"Ah, Saori… I almost forgot I'm sorry I've been so busy." He answered her while moving some things around his desk after taking a seat.

"Well I guess that's to be expected you did pick a really busy profession, anyway I wanted to make sure you were still coming." She said in a cheerful tone.

"Umm… I'll do my best to be there," he spoke hesitantly, as he secondly wrote down a reminder for himself incase he forgot.

"Okay do your best and I'll see you then…Oh I almost forgot, how did things go last night with your date?" she asked next with a sly tone.

"Date? It wasn't really a date," he spoke while scratching the back of his head.

"Well it sure looked like a date to me, so was that her?" she asked next before finding there was a long silence after the personal question. However Saori understanding the silent treatment, as she made light of the situation, she quickly started to laugh it off as she changed the subject all together on his behalf.

"We can talk about that later I suppose… But Daichi-kun, I must say you do seem pretty popular with the ladies lately… I just met a lovely young friend of yours this morning. She came all the way to the restaurant looking for information about you, and she seems taken with you… So you better be nice to her." Saori scolded him in a playful manner.

"Heh? Young friend?" He questioned as he tried to think of whom she could possibly be referring too.

"Yeah it was a young girl… She said you had given her some helpful advice or something," Saori added, causing Daichi's eyes to widen at this.

 **Flashback (Chapter 8)**

"Daichi-san?" he heard, causing him to turn towards the voice as he was surprised to see, a familiar young kunoichi standing behind him.

"Sarada? How can I help you? Are you looking for you mother again? Because she isn't in the area" he spoke, before she began to open up about her reasoning for speaking to him.

"About yesterday…" Sarada started to say before he stopped her.

"Sarada I'm sorry…" He interrupted, causing her to look at him with confused expression. "You are?" she spoke unsure of his meaning.

"Yes, I get it," he paused. "Having someone like me appear out of nowhere like that the other night, when even your own father hasn't been around you very much… Must have been threatening," Daichi said with a wide grin.

"…I meant about the incident with the kunai, my mother is right I should have apologized to you earlier so I'm… Sorry." She said while bowing to him.

Daichi finding her apology astounding as he couldn't help but smile over her admission of guilt, began to cross his arms with intrigue; as he was greatly taken aback at her acting like an adult opposed to the child she obviously was.

"Well that's a very adult thing of you to do…But what about your other little friend?" He thought to ask next, before finding a nurse he had been working with earlier suddenly distract him from his conversation with the young Uchiha as she seemed to be in search of some paperwork.

However Daichi swiftly instructing the nurse, he would help her once he was free since he had been currently busy speaking too Sarada; the Doctor turning his attention back to her after the nurse left the two of them alone. Caught momentarily an odd expression on Sarada's face that had him more than a little intrigued, before seeing her answering his question right away; making him leery of her response.

"Boruto couldn't come today, so on the behalf of both of us…I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry." She spoke before bowing again.

"Thank you Sarada… and as a word of advice for you," Daichi said after putting a hand on Sarada's shoulder getting her attention again.

"You should learn to be nicer even to strangers… You never know one day there could be a new man in your life." He said before seeing her soon leaving in a hurry, as she quickly disappeared from his line of site.

 **End Flashback**

"She was really sweet and was trying to buy something for you, we got to talking and …" Saori said before Daichi immediately interrupted her.

"Saori what was her name?" he asked in almost a harsh tone, causing Saori to stutter over his rapid change in attitude.

"Eh? It was…Sarada… Why?" she asked right away, as it sounded like something was wrong.

However Daichi looking at his desk before abruptly stopping his conversation with Saori altogether , the Doctor soon moving some papers around in a searching manner; next went through his desk drawers as he seemed to be distracted in his need to find something.

 **Flashback (Chapter 9)**

"Eh?I'm sorry Daichi-Senpai, what was this for?" a nursed asked after he had handed her a chart she had apparently requested from him.

"Didn't you come back looking for this?" He asked her in confusion, after seeing her questionable expression by her not remembering their conversation just a few moments ago.

"No doctor I got it earlier… Don't you remember?" She asked, causing him to look puzzled.

However recalling how out of place the nurse had looked, compared to how composed she was now; as his eyes began to shift side to side in his deep thinking. Daichi remembering Sarada's slightly odd expression shortly after the nurse's appearance, made him instantly put two and two together as he looked back at the nurse in swift reaction.

"It couldn't be." He thought to himself before patting at the sides of his pockets and finding that his office keys were missing, causing him to take off immediately; after realizing he may have been duped.

Once Daichi returned to his office after his mad rush to get there, since he had a good idea of were to locate his missing keys; the Doctor soon finding as he expected too, the metal keys on the ground just outside of his door. Knelt down to pick them up questionably first, before instinctively next going inside of his office since he needed to make sure nothing was amidst or out of order.

However Daichi astonished to see that his office looked just the same as he had left earlier, while he scratched the back of his head in confusion; began to wonder if maybe he was just overly paranoid or really had dropped them somewhere as it was definitely a possibility as he stared at the keys in his hand.

 **End Flashback**

"Daichi-kun?...Daichi-kun? What's wrong?" Saori asked as she only heard the shuffling of some papers in the background.

However halting his rummaging as he stared inside of his last bottom drawer for a few moments, Daichi finally pulling the phone back to his ear silently; took some time to respond to Saori as his breathing became heavy and labored.

"Daichi-kun? Are you okay?" she reasked again after hearing only his intense breathing over the phone causing her to feel concerned.

"Saori… What did you tell Sarada?" he asked in an odd monotone voice.

 **Bookstore**

"Please some one help me," Hideki yelled while trying to flee, after seeing the intruder from before returning to get him after he had entered the shop unexpectedly.

However falling to the floor causing his glasses to fall off of his face, the old many trying to protect himself instinctively while he squinted his eyes in anticipation of a painful blow; found them soon opening back up again after a few moments. As Hideki found himself shocked to see the knife the man had unsheathed prior to his chase had now stopped merely inches away from him, before he witnessed next the man seemed to be pushed back by a blurry silhouette with red piercing eyes.

"Got you this time." The voice spoke before easily disarming the mugger, causing the knife to fall too the ground with a thud.

Shaking from the unexpected attack while reaching to put on his fallen glasses, Hideki placing the spectacles back on his face as he needed to see for himself who the identity of his unidentified savior happened to be after hearing the sound of the familiar voice; the old man turning around after he had his sight returned with the help of his thick glasses, instantly felt relieved to see he had been right in presumption. After observing Sasuke had been the one too come to his rescue, as he successfully thwarted the threat on his life just in the nick of time.

Hideki seeing the two still locked in arms as he could tell Sasuke had waited for him to get out of the way, moved as fast as he could to give him some space as he didn't want to cause him any unnecessary concerns; since he knew the Uchiha was more than capable of taking care of his opponent by himself, as he seemed to be unphased in his demeanor.

However unbeknownst to Hideki, as Sasuke was far more annoyed than he let on by the resurgence of the intruder yet again; had for one been upset with the unknown man for not only getting away from him earlier, but more importantly for making trouble for him and Sakura. As he next took out his frustration on the man, by throwing him down to the ground; causing the boarded up floor underneath him to crack under the pressure of his throw.

Sasuke however not letting things end there as he quickly picked the man up by the neck, revealing his rarely seen rinnengan next; the Uchiha staring at the man intensely, wanted to show him how dead serious he was this time around, since he wouldn't be making the same mistake in letting him go.

"Talk…. Why are you after him?" he demanded, before seeing the man despite his threatening tone refusing to answer; which for Sasuke didn't matter since he was going to thoroughly enjoy the challenge.

"We can either do this the easy or hard way… Your call either way it's fine with me," he added while the man tried to get free from the Sasuke's hold, however the man stopping his struggle after seeing for himself the Uchiha's eye moving and changing; become rigged under his spell as he began to realize just how truly dire the circumstances had become.

 **Hospital**

Rushing hurriedly after leaving her earlier patients since she needed to take a mini detour in order to meet with Hinata per Lilly's suggestion, Sakura unexpectedly catching a well-known face from the other side of the crowded hallway; was surprised to see a somber looking Daichi heading towards her general direction causing her to stop all together, at seeing him for the first time since having dinner with him the night before.

However feeling more than a little embarrassed with how she had acted not only with Sasuke, but to him as well as she turned beat red at thinking about being seen overall drunk in front of her work colleague. Sakura waiting for him to get closer, as the pair soon made eye contact with one another; made her apology hastily since she knew it definitely wasn't something that was normal for her.

"Daichi-kun? Thank you for taking me home last night and I'm sorry if I caused you any troubles." She spoke while bowing to him apologetically a second time.

"Sakura-san its okay…Don't worry about it, it looks like your feeling a little bit better," he responded while eyeing her with a small smile.

"Yeah …Almost," She spoke timidly before thinking about her fight with Sasuke, as she deeply regretted the interaction all together. "Oh and about your coat I'll have it for you tomorrow, I forgot to grab it this morning." She added while holding her hands together in a pleading manner.

"It's fine really, …So listen I'm glad I ran into you, I heard from Lilly you were going to help me with the autopsy for Mr. Ito is that right?" he asked next as he had been heading towards that direction.

"Yes." She answered since it had been next on her agenda.

"I just wanted to say first, that I'm always glad to have you helping me…But Sakura-san I'm starting to feel like you maybe don't trust me to handle this on my own." He said before finding her quickly responding back after understanding his meaning.

"Oh Daichi-kun, I can assure you it's not that at all… I think you're a great doctor, it's just I had my own reasons for jumping in mainly for research purposes," she said with a smile before checking her time and seeing she needed to leave.

"Ah…Gomen ne Daichi-kun, I needed to do one more thing before I join you. Do you think you could go ahead and start without me, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency," she asked with wide eyes.

"…Sure just come as soon as you can, I'm on my way there now," Daichi responded after looking back at her with a softer smile, while he nodded his head in approval of this.

"Thank you, I won't be long" she said with her own smile back to him, before speeding off faster than she had been before.

 **Outside**

Elsewhere standing just outside of the hospital, as she took a few moments to catch her breath, after leaving the restaurant so abruptly. Sarada having rushed over to the facility in top speed after her informative conversation with whom she had assumed was Daichi's fiancé, had been amazed to learn over their long chat together with her directly; that she in truth was his cousin Saori, confirming what Sarada had known all along about the two-faced physician.

Bursting at the seams as she now had the proof that she needed to back up her earlier suspicions that Daichi was no good, Sarada needing to speak with her mother directly to tell her of her new findings; had ultimately wanted to share that not only had he lied about his engagement among other things. But also Sarada had uncovered from Saori after showing her an older picture that he in fact had facial surgery changing his appearance, which had bothered the Uchiha greatly; since it seemed to be a tightly kept secret based off of seeing Saori's reaction to letting it slip.

Taking more normal breaths as she was now rested enough to continue her task, Sarada taking steps towards the entrance of the hospital after fully regaining her composure; found her eyes suddenly shifting noticeably next. As she could tell from her short assessment of the area, there were Jounin level shinobi hanging around and on guard; as they kept out of clear eyesight, for any average person to see.

Sarada initially troubled about their reasoning for hanging around as it was definitely something out of the ordinary, the Uchiha however more eager to speak with her mother than what was happening at the moment; found herself going inside the building confidently now had the upper hand over Daichi, since she planned to reveal the truth to her mother about him once and for all.

* * *

 *****Update***Chapter 16 Preview: Sarada finally confronts Daichi, and Hinata and Sakura get to meet each other.  
**

 **Posting Chapter 16 soon  
**


	16. Chapter 16

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **Hospital**

Rushing inside of the hospital building before halting her steps altogether abruptly, Sarada at a loss for words after a quick glance over of the general waiting area; found the room surprisingly full of waiting patients, as the majority of the them seemed to be in a state of unwellness, making the Uchiha rightfully concerned by just her brief assessment of the new situation.

Curious of why so many were in need of medical attention, as the lobby had been filled to its max capacity. Sarada noticing next a nurse stationed by the new heavily guarded entrance area, as she seemed to allow only those to the back from a checkable list; felt even more concerned by this overnight change. Since it meant now her ability to move around the hospital freely would be extremely limited, which was cause for great alarm for her and her current agenda.

However Sarada catching an older man exiting from the opposite side of the blocked off area as he seemed to be making his way out of the hospital, after witnessing him heading towards her general direction. Had a sudden idea cross her mind while waiting for him purposely to get closer, as she wanted to ask him if he knew anything about what had been going on; since he most likely already went through the troubling process of checking in.

"Excuse me Sir, do you know what's going on here?" she asked after getting his attention easily.

"Oh… I'm not entirely sure myself… I came here to visit my daughter, but it seems there was a change in the security. Luckily I had called ahead of time, but from what I hear they aren't letting anyone back without prior notice. You may also want to ask the front desk and see if they know anything else." He advised while pointing to the designated area, which Sarada had already been more than familiar with.

"Thank you," she spoke politely to him. Before taking his advice in checking with the front; mainly since she needed to find out where her mother was at present.

However once she got to the front desk with the expectation of seeing someone recognizable like Mrs. Izumi at the very least; as she always tended to work in the front area of the hospital. Sarada finding an unknown nurse manning the front desk, as it caused her to be slightly caught off guard; spoke carefully to the unknown receptionist as she tried to obtain some helpful information of her mother's whereabouts.

"Ano?… I'm not sure what's going on, but I need to find someone… I'm looking for my mother?" she asked after getting the nurse's attention first.

"Your mother?" she responded questionably while looking at Sarada with a confused face, as it became apparent she didn't recognize or know the Uchiha despite her mother being well known in the hospital.

"Yes… it's Uchiha Sakura." She spoke hoping that would hurry the nurse up.

"You said for Uchiha Sakura-san? Let me see...Did you have an appointment to see her?" she asked while going through her records.

"No?" Sarada answered, as she had never needed one before to see her own mother.

"I'm sorry dear but she is currently booked solid today, so there are no appointments available." She answered after taking her eyes away from her schedule.

"Huh? I don't need an appointment I want to see my mother," Sarada said while slamming her hand on the desk as she needed the nurse to realize or at the very least sense her urgency.

"I am sorry but we aren't letting anyone back today without an appointment… And besides, Uchiha Sakura isn't available at the moment. She's working in an off limits area performing an autopsy… So you wouldn't be allowed back there anyway... Why don't you come back or I could leave a message for her." The nurse said after looking back at her.

"Come back later?… Look my name is Uchiha Sarada; I need to see her immediately this is important... Where is Mrs. Izumi she can tell you who I am," She said as she started to get more than a little annoyed by the unknown nurse.

"There is nothing else we can do for you, the hospital is under a strict new protocol as of now and we are not permitting anyone in without a prior appointment or an urgency need regardless of relation." She spoke firmly as she wouldn't budge in this.

Scrunching up her nose at hearing this from the nurse, since she was instantly suspicious of this so called new protocol; especially considering it had to be connected with the abnormal appearance of the shinobi patrolling the outside area of the hospital

Sarada wondering if this new safety measures, meant there was an unspoken threat to the occupants or even worse her mother; as she became more anxious and fearful. The Uchiha watching as the nurse went to answer an incoming phone call ultimately distracting her, found she had some time to examine the scheduling book that had been left open; as she deciphered its contents before learning, which direction she needed to go in, inorder to track down her mother hastily.

Pleased she had solved her first problem by getting her mothers location and even a room number, Sarada however knowing she had one last obstacle to get through; as she examined once again the new security at the front entrance. Realized next the potential consequences for her future actions, as there would be no other way getting around back without breaking right through the make shift barrier. Throwing caution to the wind as she was determined to take the chance Sarada leaping off in top level speed, as she headed towards the access point; got past the nurse with the clip board with no problem as her sudden appearance startled greatly, causing her to drop her papers to the ground as they floated around as she took off against the prior warnings.

"Hey wait?" the nurse at the front desk yelled out after seeing Sarada taking off, before she reached her phone for support.

 **Hospital Room**

After Sakura had gotten word of Hinata's unexpected arrival to the hospital, from one of her fellow nurses; the kunoichi stopping at the room she was currently in, found herself letting out an anxious breath before reaching for the door shakily and opening it up cautiously.

"Hinata?" she said while simultaneously entering the room, only to see that she had in fact; seemed to be much worse than before, making her instantly worried about her friend's condition.

"Sakura-chan what are you doing here?" she said before coughing into her hand as she had a look of pure exhaustion.

"What do you mean…I came to check on you. Hinata I heard you came from one of my nurses, why didn't you call me? She asked right away after getting closer to her to do her own brief examination.

"Sorry I know you're busy so I didn't want to trouble you, it seems I'm still under the weather." She voiced as it was proof of her dire condition based on the hoarseness in her tone.

"Don't worry about things like that, I just wish you would have contacted me sooner," Sakura said before feeling her forehead and seeing she was running a high fever; similar to her earlier female patient.

"Hinata I know you don't like to worry anyone, but I think we should admit you now so I can keep a better eye on you and get you some fluids," she said with a serious look on her face.

"But… Naruto-kun and." She spoke hesitantly before Sakura interrupted her.

"Hinata… Gomen," she said while sitting down beside her

 **Flashback (Chapter 8)**

Well I know it seems a bit unnecessary… But can you two stay for further observation?" Sakura asked the young couple that had come to see her, after the pair showed signs of being sick.

"Observation? Is this something serious?" The male asked concerned

"No, it's just I want to be on the safe side, since you both got sick so suddenly. So if it's okay with you two I'd like you to stay overnight," she said while trying to down play anything being abnormal.

The male looking to his significant other after she reached for his hand once again, in turn wrapped his free arm around her as the duo came to a decision. "What do you think honey?" the female asked first while waiting for his encouragement.

"Let's do it… Better safe then sorry right? Besides I couldn't bare it if anything were to happen to you." He responded back before running his hands threw her hair lovingly.

Sakura watching the display between the overly romantic pair, as she couldn't help but feel strangely envious of the couple's open affection for one another; found herself looking away slightly before she soon got up to get ready to leave.

"Thank you, Mrs. Uchiha for looking out for our best interest." The female said happily, after grabbing Sakura's hand.

Sakura looking back at the couple before she smiled forcefully; nodded her head to the pair before grabbing the room door next.

"Don't worry we'll keep an eye on you two, and you should be able to leave tomorrow after the 24 hour examination is over." She said with another smile before leaving the room.

 **End Flashback**

Sakura thinking about the couple from before, as she regretted lying to them about things not being serious; had wanted to not make the same mistake twice by disclosing to Hinata what has been going on. In spite of it being a classified mission from Naruto, as she ultimately wanted to give Hinata enough time with her husband and kids just in case she wasn't able to heal her or something went terribly wrong.

"We've kept it secret from you and everyone, what's really going on … But Hinata, there is…" she started to say before finding her friend stop her all together quickly.

"Sakura its okay, I trust in you and Naruto-kun…. Everything will be okay," she spoke with a surprising smile, as Sakura felt bad over her obviously not wanting to know what was happening.

 **Bookstore**

Insuring he had tied his ropes tightly around the incapacitated intruder, after he was propped up in a small chair; Sasuke using the back of Hideki's shop to hold the unknown man captive. Made particularly sure this time around he wasn't going anywhere, especially since he didn't want a reoccurrence of the last time; when the man escaped while he was preoccupied.

Staying in the front of the shop while attending to the fallen Jounin, after he had stirred awake from being knocked out and dragged inside by the mugger; Hideki offering him some water first after the ninja seemed to be almost recovered, watched on next him rubbing the back of his neck making him overly concerned for the man.

"Are you okay?" Hideki asked the young man.

"Yes, Thank you," The man spoke before suddenly seeing Sasuke walking out of another room and making direct eye contact with him, causing him to freeze.

"Uchiha Sasuke?…. Sorry I don't know what happened and…" The man tried to apologize, before seeing Sasuke handing him a message stopping him from talking all together.

"Give this to the Hokage … He'll no what it means." He demanded as the Jounin looking at his cold expression, could only nod before getting up slowly to do as he was told; as he left the shop quickly.

 **Hospital**

Continuing to head through the off limits area, after rushing past the nurse's earlier Sarada surprised to see that no one had followed her like she had anticipated; began to slow her pace a bit as she carefully looked out for her mother's pink signature hair; since it was a unique standout feature for the medical ninja making her easier to spot. However Sarada stopping after seeing some nurses walking away from their mini huddle, found herself freeze entirely next; after seeing a remaining nurse and Daichi talking to one another, as the sight of the man made Sarada's blood boil instantaneously.

 **Flashback (Chapter 16)**

"He's not your?..." Sarada yelled after standing up from the restaurant table, before recognizing her outburst had disturbed the people eating around her, on top of drawing some unwanted attention to herself; caused her to lower her head apologetically to them all, before quickly sitting down herself letting them get back to their individual meals.

"Ah… Sorry," she apologized too the waitress personally next.

"It's just I saw him showing… I mean buying a ring the other day and flowers, and I just thought you were his fiancé he told me mentioned about," Sarada admitted before the waitress finally spoke up.

"Oh I understand now… Well about that, to be honest I had been nagging Daichi into taking a chance and finally purposing to a woman he had been seeing for a long time. Things seemed to be going really well for the two of them and she is truly an amazing woman… But I found out yesterday from her that apparently Daichi had broken things off sometime ago, so I think he never told me this because he didn't want to disappoint me; and him showing me the ring was probably to get me too stop bothering him about it anymore." Saori spoke while looking at her hands.

"Really?" Sarada said while surprised by her admission, as she now knew he had to be lying about other things as well.

"He's a stupid one sometimes… "The female said while huffing loudly."But I guess looking at it now I just don't think he ever loved her as much as she loved him. I think his heart still belongs to his first love, he had back when he was young," she added in next, before taking a drink of her own water.

 **End Flashback**

Thinking of how much she wanted to get her hands around his deceitful neck, as she could only settle for now with clench her fist hard enough to turn her knuckles white; Sarada seeing the doctor finally make eye contact with her before giving her a surprising cocky grin, made the Uchiha reveal her red eyes first before she made her way over to him as she wanted to confront him about what she knew about him all along.

"You… you," She shouted as she felt her rage bursting first before she got closer to him, as the nurses standing by him looked back to see her as well after the unexpected encounter.

"Excuse me but you can't be back here," The nurse said next in response to her as she tried to calm her down while grabbing for her arm, however Sarada not budging at this as she hit the nurses helpful hand away; made the nurse reach for her hand in a worried manner before she left abruptly to get some assistance.

"You're a liar and I have proof now." Sarada admitted to Daichi, after the nurse left, as all her focus was on the Doctor.

"I'm sorry… I don't understand." He spoke while looking at her strangely.

"This… This is you, isn't it?" she asked while pulling out the picture she had found in his office.

"That isn't very nice going through someone's personal belongings, especially at a place of business. I could have you kicked out for breaking into my office… It was you and your little friend right that took my keys that day wasn't it?" he spoke sly as his demeanor seemed to change after she had showed him the picture.

"You can try to have me kicked out, but the proof is in this picture…"she responded while making sure to point out her mother in the Photograph." It's true you don't look the same but you've been obsessed with my mother this whole time. I also met with your cousin Saori… You lied to my mother about being engaged too." She said with a serious face, since she now had the upper hand over him; as he would now have no choice now but to finally admit too the truth.

However seeing his surprisingly calm face even after her accusation as it made her question his unworried behavior, Sarada's eye twitching after watching his widening smirk; found the gesture make her more furious with the man than before, as she couldn't understand why he had been smiling after she had put a serious damper in his obvious plans.

"I will admit you are a smart girl just like your mother… But I don't think it will matter what you say and soon enough you will come to see what I've known all along, the relationship between your mother and father is weak."

 **Flashback (Chapter 12)**

Rushing inside of her room before making sure to shut the door behind her, Sarada making her way over to her bed first after the door was firmly closed; flopped down on her mattress next, as she quickly moved to lye on her pillow, while she stared momentarily at her bedroom ceiling with an intense look of worry in her eyes. Huffing as she didn't know what to do about her mother and father, after witnessing them having an argument that she had never seen from the pair before.

Sarada turning her head away as she curled herself into a protective ball, found her eyes fixate on a nearby picture frame; as the Uchiha looked at the picture inside of her, her mother and her father together as a family. Feeling a stray tear escape from the corner of her eye as it raced down her cheek and into the disheveled covers underneath her, Sarada sitting up before grabbing the frame from her desk as she clutched it tightly. Closed her eyes while holding the frame to her chest; as she desperately wanted things to go back to the way they use to be.

 **End flashback**

"… In fact I can already see it in your eyes…" Daichi spoke snapping Sarada out of her daze.

"…and your mother's eyes… Uchiha Sasuke doesn't have what it takes to be a good husband or father, I wouldn't be surprised if…" he said sinisterly, before falling to the ground suddenly after feeling a blow to his mid section.

"Shut up! Baka!" Sarada yelled after tackling the doctor over his poison tongue and words, as she held up her fist before punching his cheek.

"SARADA!" Mrs. Izumi shouted after seeing the altercation.

* * *

 **I know its a bit of a cliffhanger but this chapter was really long so i had to break it up, Ill be gone for some vacation time but of course once i get back its back to writing. Thanks once again for the comments. :P**

 *****UPDATE*** So I'm finally back from Vacation i should have the next chapter posted this Thur or Friday. Hoped everyone had a good Easter!  
**

 **Preview Chapter 17: Sarada and Daichi's encounter continued, Sakura speaks with Hinata.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Hospital**

"Sarada!" Mrs. Izumi shouted after witnessing the young Uchiha striking Daichi in the face much to her disbelief, as the nurse from before had been the one to request her assistance, after sensing the dangerous tension between the pair; once Sarada had confronted Daichi in the hallway.

"Stop this now," She demanded next after seeing her ignoring her request, as she had no other choice to put a stop to the quarrel along with the other nurse.

However the two finding separating Sarada from Daichi problematic, as her inherited strength became more than an issue for the pair; even with their combined effort together. Mrs. Izumi trying to talk some sense into the kunoichi next, as she had never seen her show such aggression towards another person. Knew after witnessing the brief altercation first hand, that this wasn't anything like the normally well behaved child she had come to know; as she tried to remind her of her mother, since she would heavily disapprove of this behavior in hopes of getting her to stop.

"Sarada-chan… Please stop this, think about your mother," She begged while continuing to pull on her as a secondary action.

"I… am," Sarada thought to herself after hearing the comment, before next seeing the sight of blood trickling down the corner of Daichi's mouth; once he let out a strange chuckle, causing Sarada to look at the mental man confusingly.

"What's so damn funny?" She questioned after finding the gesture beyond disturbing; even with the lingering warning of a second punch waiting based on his response.

However seeing him still strangely unphased by her physical threat, as the same grin he had from before returned to his face; making the kunoichi feel angered all over again. Sarada wanting to really give him something to truly smile about, as she raised the level of her fist to deliver this time a more powerful blow; since she had purposely held back to avoid seriously harming or killing him. Found her rapidly falling knuckles suddenly stopping just shy of touching his motionless face; as her movements became heavily restricted catching her completely off guard, as two Jounin level ninja intervened by stopping the attack on the doctor.

"Let me go…" She said after feeling them pull her away much to her aggravation.

However once Sarada was separated from Daichi, as the action forced her to come back to some of her senses; the Uchiha's eyes quickly returning back to black. Realized she had ignored her surroundings after the ninja's surprise arrival, since now the room had turned eerily quite, with innocent staff and bystanders having watched first hand the altercation.

"Settle down now, and come with us quietly." Sarada heard next, as one of the Jounin holding onto her began to take her away.

"Wait…You don't understand…" Sarada started to say before, hearing Daichi's voice interrupting them; while the nurse helped him up from the ground.

"Gentlemen…Wait," He said causing them to halt their movements much to Sarada's surprise.

"I don't plan on filing any charges against young Sarada-chan here, as I'm good friends with her mother... But if you wouldn't mind I'd like her to be removed from the premises… Permanently as a precaution," He spoke to the Jounin directly who complied with his request after it was made.

"What?… You can't … He's a lair," Sarada said to the men, before seeing they were openly ignoring her, based off of what they had witnessed for themselves.

"Are you okay Daichi-Sensei?" The nurse asked after watching him pulling out a handkerchief next to remove some remaining blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah… I'm just not sure what has gotten into her," He responded loud enough for Sarada to hear making her appalled with his attempt at playing the victim.

However in watching Daichi's continued calmness towards the nurse, even after all that happened; as it bothered her that he wasn't more caught off guard by her appearance. Sarada trying to figure out why she didn't have the upper hand like she assumed she already had, found herself recalling to the encounter with Daichi just a few moments back; as even then he didn't seem surprised.

 **Flashback (Chapter 16)**

"This… This is you, isn't it?" Sarada asked while pulling out the picture she had found in his office.

"That isn't very nice going through someone's personal belongings, especially at a place of business. I could have you kicked out for breaking into my office… It was you and your little friend right that took my keys that day wasn't it?" he spoke sly as his demeanor seemed to change after she had showed him the picture.

"You can try to have me kicked out, but the proof is in this picture…"she responded while making sure to point out her mother in the Photograph." It's true you don't look the same but you've been obsessed with my mother this whole time. I also met with your cousin Saori… You lied to my mother about being engaged too." She said with a serious face, since she now had the upper hand over him; as he would now have no choice now but to finally admit too the truth.

However seeing his surprisingly calm face even after her accusation as it made her question his unworried behavior, Sarada's eye twitching after watching his widening smirk; found the gesture make her more furious with the man than before, as she couldn't understand why he had been smiling after she had put a serious damper in his obvious plans.

 **End flashback**

Feeling her eyes growing in size after finally putting the pieces of the puzzle together, Sarada understanding that he had intended on this outcome from the very beginning; as she saw now that he deliberately said cruel things about her family, so that she would blindly become furious enough to attack him directly forcefully getting herself kicked out of the hospital..

Sarada angry with herself for thoughtlessly falling into his trap, as she the two Jounin level shinobi started to take her away. began to struggle within their strong grips as she needed to plead her case of any wrong doings, as she next looked back too the one person who knew her best Mrs. Izumi; since Daichi's apparent set up was prohibiting her now from revealing the truth to her mother.

"Mrs. Izumi please I need to see my mother, tell them to let me go... He's lying to you all," Sarada called before being forced away, as she watched the distance between her and Mrs. Izumi grow more and more.

"Sarada-Chan?…." Izumi responded under her breath, since she couldn't deny what she had seen with her own eyes.

 **Hospital Room**

While visiting with the Hokage's wife momentarily since she wanted to check how she was fairing, Sakura having her exhausted friend lye back on the hospital bed; after a tough round of heavy coughing. Felt more than concerned for the harsh symptom she had continued to show, as she made an assessment she needed to have an IV started; since she was in need of not only valuable fluids but rest as well.

"Okay Hinata you stay here and rest now, I have a nurse coming on the way that will set you up with an IV drip. Did you need anything else before I leave?" Sakura asked with a concerned smile, while pulling up some covers over her after seeing she had started to shiver.

"I don't want to be any more trouble but… Could you let Naruto-kun know that I'm staying here, I don't want to him to worry. I can only imagine how apprehensive or angry he would be if I don't let him know where I've gone," She spoke softly as she looked at Sakura with a smile back.

 **Flashback (Chapter 12)**

"What were you thinking?" Sasuke scolded Sakura, once she had come back into the bedroom with him waiting on her.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura questioned to herself with squinty eyes over his loud voice, since his volume caused her headache to enhance sharply making her instantly regret ever touching the wine she had drunken with Daichi.

"Answer me… Where were you?" Sasuke asked next after not getting an initial response to his first question, especially since he knew she had heard him based off of the strained look on her face.

Sakura however quickly recalling prior to dinner how upset she had been with Sasuke for standing her up on their date; since she used it as fuel to drink more than she normally would have, continued to walk past the Uchiha instead of responding to his questions since she wanted him to know she hadn't forgotten what happened with her cold response behavior towards him.

"Hey," he responded after seeing her dismissal of him, before he stood up to reach for her wrist to stop her from freely walking away without a word.

"Do you know how worried Sarada and I have been about you?" Sasuke added in a louder voice as he tried to get her attention.

 **End Flashback**

Sakura hearing Hinata's request, while she recalled how mad even Sasuke seemed to be at not knowing where she had gone off to; felt even more guilty with how she reacted to the situation, as he only shown general concern for her safety, just as any husband would for their spouse.

"Sakura?" Hinata questioned after seeing Sakura lost in thought, as she soon grabbed her hand next to get her attention; causing her to look back in surprise.

"Ahah Gomen…Yes of course … I'll send a message to him after I leave from here….Daijobu" She finally replied after her longer than normal pause.

"Sakura-chan is everything okay?" Hinata asked, since she could tell something had been on her mind by her worried demeanor.

"Eh?" Sakura had responded back, since she wasn't the one that was dangerously sick.

However seeing Hinata struggling to sit up, as Sakura instinctively tried to coax her to lie back down; Hinata not being detoured as she had a serious expression on her face, made Sakura feel uneasy by her stubbornness since she had obviously wanted to say something too her.

"It seems like something is upsetting you…" She said with a concerned look.

"I'm fine really, plus you need to rest and." Sakura responded before Hinata interrupted her after refusing to let her brush the issue aside.

"Even if I'm sick it doesn't mean I can't listen... You can talk to me," She said next hoping she would open up to her even if it was a little bit, since she had been aware of how much stress she must be under.

"Hinata…" Sakura said hesitantly to her comment.

Since she did in fact have several things running through her mind, but thinking in particular of one thing as it concerned her own relationship with Sasuke; as she still thought a lot about the argument the pair had the night before.

 **Bookstore**

Locking the front door temporarily before listening to the sound of yelling coming from the back of his shop, Hideki turning his head away at hearing the retching noise; found it hard to take since he wasn't a man of violence or fighting. But ultimately understanding the necessity for this kind of treatment, while Sasuke continued to question the man that had threaten his life for the second time; Hideki knowing the stern Uchiha had a valid reason for trying to get the man to speak, knew the fate of innocent people potentially rested on what information he could obtain from the unwilling stranger.

"Ahhhah… Get out of my head." The man shouted from the back of the shop, before his head dropped while he panted heavily trying to catch his breath.

"Just as I figured, you're not an ordinary man are you?…" Sasuke deduced before closing his eyes for a few moments.

Since the man he had been trying to get answers from, seemed to be withstanding his interrogation tactics fairly well; as an average person would have given in already. However Sasuke only giving the man a few moments rest, as he began to test the muggers will; knew now it was only a matter of time before he broke the weak minded individual, since he had only used a minimal amount of his power on the man.

"Now who sent you?" He asked as he gave him sometime to answer his question.

"I told … you…No… One …" The man answered while trying to keep his composure, as he unfortunately was unable to hide the anguish in his voice or his clammy sweat filled body.

However Sasuke opening his eyes once more, to see the man had obviously been either to stupid or prideful too save himself; the Uchiha deciding to continue where he had left off as the intensity of his eye changed, wouldn't be holding back like he had been before as he stepped things up another level.

 **Outside**

Standing outside of the hospital after being escorted out by the two ninja that had apprehended her after her attack on Daichi; Sarada seeing the pair remain on guard in the front entrance, as they continued to keep their watchful eyes on her much to her annoyance. Was fully conscious that even with her own high level skills, she wouldn't be able to sneak past the higher ranked ninja without being noticed; Making her even more upset with herself at losing her cool and composure as she kicked the dirt around her before walking away from the building.

 **Hospital Room**

"I see…" Hinata commented after hearing Sakura's account of what had happened, as she finally felt comfortable enough to speak about her troubles with Sasuke.

" … I just can't help feeling stupid for being so mad at Sasuke-kun the other night, even though he had a valid reason for missing out on our date. Normally I try to understand and be patient, but I just couldn't get over the hurt feelings I had to let it go as easily… Has… Has something like this ever happened between you and Naruto?" Sakura asked hesitantly while awaiting her answer.

"Hai… I've gotten angry with Naruto-kun for missing and forgetting important things and events... And I think it's natural for couples to have those fights and disagreements… But I think it helps keeping in mind it's never intentional for Naruto or Sasuke-kun." She said in a calming manner hoping to reassure her. However seeing only a slight smile as she still seemed trouble Hinata tried once again to help her friend voice her lingering concerns.

"Was there something else?" She asked while looking at her.

"Well it's just… Poor Sarada was at home at the time and I'm sure she heard us arguing. Lately I've been worried about her more and more, especially since I'm not home as much; and I know she's been worried about me and her dad." Sakura paused while recalling seeing her daughter holding the Uchiha family portrait tightly in her arms before she left for work.

"It's never easy being a couple that is apart a lot, even I understand that feeling it can be lonely…. Demo ne Sarada-chan will come to fully understand the bonds you and Sasuke-kun share as her parents." Hinata spoke with absolute confidence.

"Your right…Today I'll sit down and have a good talk with her to let her know everything is fine… and hopefully I'll get to apologize to Sasuke-kun soon as well...Thank you," Sakura said with a cheerful smile, after taking in her friend's encouraging words, ultimately making her feel better.

However finding her smile fading after hearing Hinata start to cough as she quickly got up to grab her something to drink, Sakura reaching out for the nurse she had requested earlier through the intercom; needed to leave so she could find away to get her better, while hoping the autopsy would give her the results she desperately needed.

 **Outside**

Finding herself stopping after walking a few feet away from the hospital, before she reached into her pants pocket next; Sarada checking to make sure she still had the picture of Daichi and her mother after her mini scuffle with the Doctor. Considered her limited options as she needed a new course of action, since she was troubled about what Daichi may due; since he was aware now she had found out the truth about him.

However the Uchiha having no real alternative plan as she now needed to get help from another adult, Sarada resolving herself to go off in search of her father next; knew he would not only have no problems with dealing with authority figures like the Jounin that had stopped her before, but more importantly he would have no problem putting Daichi in his place, once she revealed to him everything she knew about the bizarre man.

 **Hospital**

Leaving the hospital room once the nurse she had requested for finally arrived to set up an IV for Hinata, Sakura shutting the door behind her after leaving her friend in good hands; stopped at sensing someone standing just behind her, as it got the medic ninja's attention right away making her turn around.

However seeing it had been the front nurse Mrs. Izumi standing there waiting for her, Sakura knowing that this wasn't normal behavior for her; as she seemed to have a nervous demeanor, concluded that something was obviously wrong making her question the older woman quickly.

"Izumi-san? What is it?" she asked with a strained look.

"Sakura, I'm sorry there was an incident," she spoke, making Sarada's eyes grow wider.

"Incident? What happened?" she questioned her as she looked concerned.

"It's Sarada." She responded next getting her full attention.

* * *

 **Thanks for the remark, I take no offense to the comments posted if anything that kind of lets me know what I need to improve on or possibly change. I do realize there hasn't been a lot of Sasusaku interaction yet despite the many chapters, but the story is turning into a longer one than I expected. I do however have a lot of Sasusaku planned for this story and some Sarada/Boruto interactions as well so I'll do my best to get more SasuSaku in the chapters**

 ** ******Update:**** **Posting Chapter 18 tonight*****

 **Preview: Sarada runs into a small problem before getting help from a friend, Sakura talks with Izumi before confronting Daichi.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 **Hospital**

"She did what?" Sakura almost yelled while talking with Mrs. Izumi a little ways away from Hinata's room; as the nurse informed her about what had happened between Daichi and Sarada.

"… I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, I just honestly don't know what got into her. The only thing I do know is that she was looking for you before she attacked Daichi." Izumi said as she wanted to prepare her, before she saw for herself Daichi's bruised face as a result of the quarrel.

"Where is Sarada now?" Sakura asked while biting her thumb nervously, as she tried to comprehend what was being said about her own daughter.

"The security escorted her out already, but she didn't seem to be hurt." She responded while having a noticeable pause. "Sakura, I didn't get to hear or see all of what was said between her and Daichi. But the nurse that came to get me said the two seemed to be talking to each other before the attack happened." She admitted while placing a hand under her chin.

Hearing this from Izumi as she could sense in her anxious mannerisms just how concerned she had been for her daughter, Sakura thinking about the situation as a whole; as she found herself in a terrible bind, had wanted to rush out of the hospital immediately after hearing the news to find Sarada. However being unable to leave work so freely especially since she had patients near death needing her help, Sakura feeling extremely conflicted by the situation; fought her mixed feelings of being a doctor and a mother; as she felt now she needed to choose suddenly one over the other.

"Sakura what will you do?" Izumi suddenly asked next as she could see her facial expression change while she had remained quite.

Sakura however breathing out heavily in frustration before she looked back to Izumi, began to rub her sore temples for a bit before next handing over a clipboard to the nurse; as she decided to ask her longtime friend a favor.

"Izumi-san… It's crucial that I do the autopsy for Mr. Ito as scheduled… Demo… After that can you please find some coverage for me." She spoke firmly with unwavering eyes.

"You're not going to see the rest of your patients?" She questioned after taking the object from her.

"… I am a doctor and patients do come first and forth most and I know after the autopsy, I should be able to help them better with the results. However I'm also a mother and I have a duty to my child to make sure she's alright… Please." She spoke while looking down, since hearing of Sarada's outburst; had made her have a bad feeling, as she didn't want to ignore her one and only child.

"Good! Leave everything to me, I can find some coverage for you," Mrs. Izumi said with a surprising smile, causing Sakura to look up at her instantly; since she had anticipated she would be disappointed in her for taking personal matters over helping patients. However Izumi grabbing her hand as she got Sakura's full attention made her look at the nurse, as she seemed to be approving overly of her decision.

"…. Sarada-chan is a very brave and smart girl; I've watched her grow into a very polite and wonderful person. So In spite of her still being a grown child, that girl still needs her mother I 100 percent believe you are making the right choice to check on her besides... Something about this is very strange I don't think she would ever have done something like this maliciously without a real reason." Izumi added in before leaving, Sakura to her thoughts.

Sakura looking down, as she agreed with Izumi's sentiments about Sarada striking the doctor; began to walk towards the restricted area, since she needed to finish doing the autopsy as well as speak to Daichi about what could have really happened.

 **Outside**

Walking up to a building as she gulped with anticipation, Sarada reaching into her pocket once again as her hand felt the corners of the picture sitting inside; felt herself become anxious after coming to a decision to find her father after her plan to talk to her mother fell through due to Daichi.

 **Flashback (Chapter 17)**

Sarada walking away a few feet from the hospital, while she pulled out the picture of her mother and Daichi from her pocket; considered now her limited options as she had needed a new plan, since she was concerned for her mother now that Daichi had been aware she new the truth about him.

Having no other alternative plans as she didn't foresee this one backfiring on her so badly, Sarada deciding to go speak with her father as she started to dart off in search of him, found herself quickly halt from enacting her brand new idea; as she neglected one major factor with informing her dad of all that had happened.

"Papa…" she thought to herself, after recalling she didn't know exactly know where to find him; since he had left the house earlier in the morning, and normally didn't disclose to much where he went off too.

However thinking on her toes, as she knew of only one person that would know the whereabouts of where her father could be, Sarada resolving herself to go off in search of that person; headed in the direction of the Nanadaime's office, as she decided to speak with him directly while she headed off in top speed.

 **End Flashback**

Sarada removing her hand from her pocket, before getting a bit closer to the Hokage's building as she began to move over to the stairs after her mini flashback; the Uchiha however seeing someone familiar sitting outside of the steps catching her by surprise.

"Boruto?" she questioned to herself after seeing the familiar blonde headed boy, as she witnessed him of all people waiting outside on the steps, as the young teen seemed to be somber in mood getting Sarada's attention by his noticeably different behavior.

"What's wrong?" She asked first, before seeing his unusual expression.

 **Flashback (Chapter 13)**

Walking up to his father's office since he had needed to drop off something for him from home, Boruto yawning annoyingly before opening up the door to see he was busy with a visitor; stopped at seeing Sarada's father and Naruto having a private conversation that instantly caught his otherwise limited attention.

"Really?" Naruto said after hearing Sasuke's accounts about Hideki and his clan.

"Ah…I spoke with him last night, but I can't find the man that was trying to capture him. That's why I requested to have someone stand on guard around the shop, to protect him incase the man comes back again… Which I'm sure he will." Sasuke said helping Naruto understand the reason for his urgent message.

"So ka," He commented before resting his elbows on his desk momentarily.

"I have a Jounin watching the place now, though I'll admit I was a bit surprised to hear, this mysterious man was able to get away from you." Naruto said carelessly before seeing it was something of a sensitive subject for Sasuke, since he made a slightly annoyed face over the comment.

"Ah… Sorry I just meant he isn't an average man if he got away from you. Don't worry to much we'll keep a close eye out for him," He spoke up quickly before picking up the paper Sasuke had noticed earlier; containing information for the missing clansman Fumetsu Itaru. "I just can't believe this may be connected to this person…it's a good thing you noticed this." He commented next.

"Yeah… I'm going to speak with him some more today, he's also agreed to help with whatever we need. So I plan to have Sakura examine also speak with him later." Sasuke added while looking down in thinking about Sakura.

"Look Sasuke… I wanted to let you know, that I've requested for additional security at the hospital along with jounin stationed on the inside… I know it's probably not needed, but it will insure everyone stays safe along with Sakura-chan, since she's our only hope for finding a cure for whatever this is…." He said in a more serious tone after catching his semi worried expression.

"Um.." Sasuke thought to himself, since he couldn't deny he had been happy to hear Naruto thinking ahead for once.

"Then … I'm heading to Hideki's shop now," The Uchiha said, before catching Naruto's eyes looking away, as he seemed to be a bit on edge by something.

"Nanni Ka?" Sasuke asked out of the blue, before seeing Naruto rubbing the back of his neck; while taking entirely too long to respond. Making the Uchiha already understand right away what troubled him despite his reluctance to say so.

"It's Hinata isn't it?" He asked in a low tone while keeping his gaze locked on Naruto.

"Eh?" Boruto questioned hearing his mother's name being brought up, while continuing to listen in on their conversation from the other side of the door.

"Yeah she's been getting worse and worse, so I convinced her to go to the hospital today to get a check up. But… I'm honestly really worried for her, I want to tell her what's going on but I can't bring myself too." He said while continuing to look down.

"Try not to worry … Sakura is there so there isn't much to worry about," Sasuke reassured as he had complete faith in his wife and her effortless determination.

"Umm… Your right, at the very least with Sakura-chan there things can't get to much worse …." Naruto spoke with a forceful smile, before reaching for his signature cloak.

"What is going on …Okasan…" Boruto commented worryingly, before seeing his father and Sasuke getting ready to leave once the pair suddenly stood up.

Hiding on instinct once he noticed the pair walking towards the door, Boruto watching his father lock his office door behind him; before walking down the hall with Sasuke beside him, had waited purposely until the coast was in the clear. Before finding no problem with opening up the Hokage's locked door, as he next reached under a nearby plant for the spare key; since he knew his father had a tendency to lose the key often, as a result he kept a extra on standby incase it had happened again.

Once Boruto went inside of the office as he snooped around a bit cautiously, the young ninja grabbing the paper from his father's desk as he examined it; could see at a closer glance it had been a flyer for a missing person making him wandered why it was something of importance, as he felt more than concerned with the seemingly vital document.

 **End** **flashback**

"Really?" Sarada said after exchanging stories, with Boruto about what had happened for the two friends as of recently.

"Yeah…They didn't talk much about what was wrong with my mother, but I know where your dad went." Boruto said while pulling out the flyer he had taken from his father's office, as he handed it too Sarada to look over.

"There's an address on here… Okay let's go…." She said next while reaching her hand out to help him up.

"Huh?" Boruto said as he looked back at her confused.

"Come with me to find my papa, I'm sure he can tell us what's really going on and what's wrong with your mother." She said before he nodded back in agreement, as he reached out next to grab her hand.

 **Hospital**

Elsewhere after coming up to the restricted examination area, while she fixated on the closed door waiting in front of her, Sakura taking a deep breath before entering into the room; tried to prepare herself mentally for what to expect in working with Daichi. As she could hear Izumi's words repeating in the back of her mind, while seeing there had been some proof in them; after catching the noticeable bruises on the doctors exposed face, from his mini altercation with Sarada.

"Sarada…" The medic ninja thought to herself, as she desperately didn't want to believe her daughter was capable of this.

However Sakura knowing that there were always two sides to a story as she continued to reframe herself from jumping to any definite conclusions just yet, the Uchiha finding her eye twitch with surprise as she watched Daichi working diligently on the body for Mr. Ito. Noticed next the doctor making eye contact with her after sensing her presence, causing him to lower his tools as he acknowledge her right away catching her a little off guard.

"Sakura- san," He spoke up before next removing his gloves and walking over to her.

"Daichi?" she said questionably, as she didn't know what to say or where to start.

"Ah yeah… Chotto…" he responded after seeing her hesitation, as he went to the nearby sink to wash and dry his hands. "I'm sure you heard about what happened between me and Sarada-chan, but don't you worry I'm okay, it's only a little bruising see." He said after turning back to her and lowering his facial mask.

"What… What happened between you and Sarada? Why did she hit you?" She asked as she wanted some answers.

"Oh that… Well it seems she still may have a problem with me; she had even accused me of lying to her, I'm not sure what about," he answered before pulling up his mask over his face.

Finding some truth in Daichi's words, since from the beginning Sarada seemed to have a problem with him; Sakura however knowing in spite of this it still wouldn't be something her daughter would due to strike another adult. Went to grab a pair of gloves and mask for herself, as she distance herself from the doctor; so she could get what she needed and leave to check on Sarada and get her side of things.

 **Outside**

"Damn my old man… I don't know why he would be hiding something from me and even my mother." Boruto commented after jumping across the rooftop of a building.

"Well there is definitely something going on, that the parents know and are trying to keep secret. Don't you remember that night we had dinner together?" Sarada commented to Boruto as the two rushed together to get to the location of her father.

"What do you mean?" Boruto asked confused by her admission, after she caught up to him.

"Baka…Remember when the parents asked us to go into the other room do you remember the looks on their faces." Sarada pointed out hoping to jog his memory.

 **Flashback (Chapter 6)**

"Naruto?" Sakura spoke seeing him snapping out of his daze, to make eye contact with her.

"… Is everything okay? Something seems to be bothering you?" She finally asked in a low voice causing Sasuke to look over at her, before he too looked towards Naruto as well.

Naruto surprised to see his two old teammates looking at him with troubled faces, as it took him a moment to realize he had been acting differently. Sat up straight as he wanted to speak on the matter, but not before quickly remembering the kids and Hinata were still in the room.

"Hey Boruto…. Could you take Sarada and Himawari into another room for a bit, while we speak," he finally said as he kept his eyes locked on Sasuke and Sakura.

"Huh?" Boruto let out with attitude, before he was going to protest to his father telling him what to do.

However Sarada understanding this was a more serious issue; based solely on the looks of her own parents' faces as well as Naruto's, quickly gives Boruto a pinch on the arm grabbing his focus in order to coax him to pay more attention to the vibe in the room; as he needed to follow his father's orders for once without fighting back.

Boruto looking back at her with a confused expression, before looking for himself what Sarada had already noticed; felt intrigued about the parents serious looks, until Sarada got his attention again as she stood up quickly from the table.

"Hey Boruto you just got a new game recently right? Can I see?" she asked after nudging him harder.

"Yeah Onii-chan," Himawari second as she had wanted to play as well.

Boruto huffing before nodding his head to the pair, looked back at Naruto whom had a grateful smile; before he got up from the table as well departing the room with Sarada, and Himawari following closely behind leaving the parents lastly alone together.

 **End flashback**

"Oh yeah I remember now," Boruto said after thinking about that night. While the two jumped on top of another building.

"The look on the parents faces that day say it all, something big is troubling them enough to keep it a secret. So once we find my papa I know we'll both get some answers." She spoke while secondly thinking about the overly filled up hospital and additional security; as the two got closer and closer to the address on the paper.

* * *

 **Preview: Chapter 19 Sarada finally meets with her father, Sakura does the autopsy for Mr. Ito and truth about Daichi is finally revealed.**

 *****UPDATE: Computer is still down but i was able to get most of chapter 19 so i should be posting this Thursday or Friday sorry for the delay. Thank you"*****


	19. Chapter 19

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 **Outside**

"Are you sure…This is the right place?" Boruto asked with a raised eyebrow, once he and Sarada finally stopped; after coming up to a nearly abandoned shopping district.

"It has to be here," Sarada responded back; since she admittedly had never seen most of the shops and buildings in the isolated area before, despite living in Konoha practically her whole life.

However having some doubt after the comment was made as she decided it would be in her best interest to double check the flyer once again, the Uchiha finding her validation in the document that at the very least the pair were in the right vicinity; found herself searching the buildings next for the exact address printed out on the paper, while continuing to keep a watchful eye out on their still unknown and potentially dangerous surroundings.

"So what's the verdict?" Boruto asked next after catching her altering gaze from the paper to the buildings.

"Well looks like we are close to the right place… But we look to be some ways still away from this address?" She spoke up to him before moving around a bit, with the paper in hand.

"Really? I don't know about this Sarada… Maybe we should go back… This place gives me the creeps and besides we could always..." Boruto started to say before finding Sarada interrupting him immediately, while blatantly ignoring his cautious suggestion.

"Hey I found it…It's this way…Come on," She said next, after finally seeing a building with similar numbers; that would absolutely lead them to the location, as she next darted to get there as fast as she could; ultimately leaving Boruto behind as he was taken off guard by her sudden departure.

"Eh? Chotto…" He spoke up after seeing her rushing off by herself, causing him to rush after her to follow suit.

 **Hospital**

Once Sakura had prepped herself with a mask and gloves before she made her way over to Mr. Ito's half covered up body, the medical ninja having no problems dealing with the unmoving remains of her former patient that was now long since deceased; could see right away in her brief observation of his body. That Daichi surprisingly had taken care of most of the work for her already, while noticing for herself the dissected chest cavity; as she got even closer to look on the inside.

However once Sakura began her true assessment of the corpse, after she dipped her hands inside feeling a few of the semi intact internal organs; as she examined each one carefully. The Uchiha finding some parts were already removed, as she was astounded to see Daichi had been much further in the autopsy than even she could anticipate; caused her to knit her eyebrows with concern by his obvious hastened work in such a short amount of time.

 **Bookstore**

Elsewhere while Sasuke had interrogated the man for some time, after Hideki allowed him full use of the back of his store; the man almost in shambles over Sasuke's continued torture as he seemed to be more compliant to the Uchiha, tried to plead with him as he couldn't take anymore as he had finally reached his visible breaking point.

"Please no more no more…." He spoke up before Sasuke finally reasking his earlier question, in which the man earlier had refused to answer before.

"Now who sent you?" He asked in a much harsher voice than before, as the man sat back exhausted while trying to catch his rushing breath.

" … All …I can tell you is that, I was sent to kill the old man. I don't know why but someone was paying me to finish the job." He screamed out hoping he would take this information. However Sasuke not being one to turn away from viciousness, while he glared dangerously at the man; the Uchiha still felt he had been withholding information causing him to change his eyes once again as his last warning for the stranger.

"Wait… I swear, that's all I know please I beg you stop," The man cried out as he plead even harder with the cold Uchiha.

"Who… Sent… you?" he reasked again.

 **Outside**

"This is it?" Sarada questioned along with Boruto, once the pair stood outside of an old bookstore; as they looked back at one another confused by Sasuke possibly being here of all places, especially since the pair had pictured something completely different.

However Boruto reaching for the door knob, before seeing that the establishment seemed to be closed; looked back to Sarada before finding his hand reaching for the back of his head in annoyance at the pair now coming seemingly to a dead end.

"Great! This place is probably never open… Now what do we do?" he asked her, as he felt now they were just waiting time.

Sarada not buying the closure as it was barely noon, as she began to look around and investigate the building further; found a nearby window that the pair could possibly sneak into as she got closer to check it out.

"Looks like this window is jammed… and if we break it, someone may notice." She said to herself, before trying next to look through the old dusty glass; as she was unable to see inside despite trying to wipe it clean with her arm.

"Why don't we just go through the door… Look it opened." She heard next before seeing Boruto had broken the handle as it sat in his hand, causing her to drop her mouth at his tactless entry into the establishment.

"Boruto!" She said while getting closer before, bonking his head with her closed fist scolding the teen.

"Hey wait… it was lose It came out, once I let go of the door." He admitted as he rubbed his tender scalp.

"Fine let's go in before someone gets the wrong idea." Sarada said as he followed along behind her.

However once the two finally went inside after they carefully opened up the door, hearing the sound of a door bell jingle automatically as it closed behind them; made the duo aware their arrival was regrettably broadcasted, before seeing someone next coming up to them causing the twosome to jump.

"Oh my children?" An someone spoke up, before Sarada decided to apologize right away for the unexpected intrusion.

"Gomen ne… The handle broke on the door," She tried to explain, while equally elbowing Boruto to follower her lead and apologize to the man by bowing as well.

"Oh I've been meaning to get that fixed for some time," The person spoke while patting his lower back. "My name is Hideki… How is it that I can help you two today?" He asked before seeing the pair raising their heads, as he looked in particularly in Sarada's direction; causing him to adjust his glasses at seeing her appearance.

"Oh my you do look very familiar," He said next making Sarada look back at him confused, since she knew she hadn't seen the man before.

"Hey old man, we were looking for someone who may have come here," Boruto spoke up improperly next, since he wanted to leave the rundown bookstore as soon as possible.

"Someone here?" Hideki question before finding, Sarada speaking up to second Boruto's question more formally.

"Yes, what he means to say is … We're looking for my papa… He may have come here earlier and I need to speak with him urgently… His name is Uchiha Sasuke." She said with a more than serious expression and tone.

"Ah now I see…Yes the resemblance between you two is uncanny," The man said with a chuckle, causing Sarada to look at him confused by his words.

"My apologies I'm old and my eyesight is going but I'm very good at recognizing facial features, especially when it comes to seeing the connection between a parent and child… You look just like you're father he's actually here I'll show you…" He said before slowly walking away to the back of the store.

Sarada and Boruto looking at each other first, before following behind the man cautiously; decide unspokenly to trust and follow him, since no matter what they could fight if he was up to something strange. However once the two followed him to the back of the shop, they found just like he had said Sasuke was standing there; as Sarada was surprised to see him in such a low key place, causing her heart to race.

"Papa?" Sarada said with a mixture of surprise and relief.

 **Hospital**

Finishing up with her examination with Mr. Ito as she sutured up his body from the initial opening Daichi had made earlier, Sakura grabbing a empty needle while she carefully examined the outside of his skin; quickly found Daichi stop her from sticking him with it as he handed her a vile without being asked to do so.

"Here," He spoke before she could see it had already been a sample she was needing to get from the body, as he had already done the work for her yet again by handing over the fully prepped vile. "I already got it for you." he added quickly, before she took it from him after setting her own needle down.

"Arigato Daichi-kun," She spoke while placing a full blanket over Mr. Ito's body.

"So did you find what you needed yet?" Daichi asked her next while writing on a clipboard, since he had allowed her time for herself to examine the body on her own.

"Well in a matter of speaking not exactly what I was hoping for." She commented while removing her gloves, before going to the sink and washing her hands.

"I don't understand?" he asked in response to her comment, while he watched her next removing her face mask; after drying her hands.

"Daichi-kun? Exactly what assessment did you come too about the patient?" she asked catching him off guard by the question.

"Eh?" he responded to the unanticipated question.

"You seemed to be doing this autopsy awfully fast, your work was lazy and messy. So why did you do it so recklessly, you knew I was coming to help you." She asked since it had bothered her after seeing it on the initial examination.

"Ah? Well I know you did want to help me…But I wanted to keep it brief so you had more time with your friend... I'm sorry for the carelessness, However it appeared to me he died of the illness itself, his organs seem to have just given out on him." He answered while looking at the covered up body.

"That's true at first glance he looks like someone that had died from a typical illness… However… Did you happen to see these puncture marks on his arm?" She asked next after walking over to the body and briefly uncovering his arm to show him.

"From what I can tell it looks like someone injected Mr. Ito with something, so as a doctor you must look further and not just rely on what you see with your own eyes remember that…" She spoke in almost a scolding manner, since she wanted to call him out on his work.

"Yes." Daichi said while he looked at the arm, before seeing Sakura start to prep the vile he had given her; as she began to examine the sample while taking notes.

 **Bookstore**

Standing in the same room together with Sasuke, following her and Boruto's unexpected run in with the store owner Hideki; Sarada feeling the pit of her stomach beginning to turn, at having several things she had wanted to say to him directly. Found disturbingly that he had been currently in the middle of something; as she noticed just behind him an unconscious man tied up to the chair; making her feel alarmed over what had been going on prior to her and Boruto's arrival.

"Papa?…." She spoke next, trying to get his full attention.

"What is it?…" Sasuke responded coldly before glancing back, as his Sharingan eye was visible and active.

"Something… Something is going on that you or the Hokage aren't telling us and we need to know what's happening…" Sarada said first, before Boruto added his feelings to her statement.

"…And I want to know what is happening with my mom? I heard you and my old man talking about it earlier, so I know you know something." he angrily asked, before he and Sarada watched the adult keep the same calm face, in spite of the interrogation the two were trying to give.

"It's neither of your concern," He finally answered back to the pair, as he kept his response short.

However finding problem with his reply as she narrowed her eyebrows and clenched her shaky fist, Sarada feeling beyond irritated with him as she not only wanted him to address Boruto's concern for his mother; but had also wanted him to understand the trouble he had caused for their family now by missing the date with her mother, as Sarada was rightfully troubled Daichi would use their fight to get closer to her, opposed to staying away from her like she had originally wanted.

"Papa…Baka…Baka baka shi." She yelled with her eyes closed as she raised her voice to him, causing him to look at her confused by her sudden outburst.

"You can't hide this from us anymore, I knew something was wrong back when we had dinner at the Nanadaime's house… and today I went to the hospital to talk with mama, but I couldn't because it was heavily protected." Sarada said while looking at her father sternly since, he needed to realize that despite the two being young they weren't going to easily drop the matter as she next pulled out a picture from her pocket.

Hideki watching the interaction between both Sasuke and Sarada, as he looked back in forth at the pair; found his eyes fixate on the image in Sarada's hand next, as he adjusted his glasses once more at seeing the image before interrupting the father and daughter duo.

"This… Where did you get this?" He asked as he held his hand out hoping to see it closer.

"This? It was a picture I grabbed from one of the doctors at the hospital… Why?" Sarada asked unsure of why he wanted to see it, as she planned to explain it to her father.

"This child, I wonder?" Hideki mumbled to himself after looking at it briefly, as he handed the image back to Sarada next; before strangely walking away to go through some things.

Sarada seeing Hideki seemingly going off on his own, before looking back at her father as his attention had went back to the mugger still tied up in front of them, got closer to her father next with the photo in question; before forcing the object closer to his face, since he needed to know now what she had found out about the untrustworthy man.

"Papa…Please look," she said before seeing him finally grabbing the image, giving her some sense of relief by having her proof in his hands.

"I wanted to show you this picture earlier, it may not look like it but this photo is of Daichi as a child… I found this hidden in his office, but since you and mama had that fight last night I couldn't show it to you right away. And though he doesn't look anything like this now, you can see mama is there with him. He even admitted to me before that he knew her as a child." She paused while seeing him looking at the image.

"Papa you should know… This man despises you and talks bad about you when you're not around and … Even now he is constantly trying to take mama away from me and you… and you're letting him get away with it." She spoke while looking at him harshly.

Sasuke hearing his daughters confession while continuing to remain silent as he looked back at her, noticed along with Sarada; Hideki suddenly returning back to them, while going through an old dusty book. Since the photo Sarada had allowed him to see momentarily, had obviously sparked something for him as he pulled something out of the book next.

"Young one... You said this boy's name was Daichi is that correct?" He asked Sarada directly, causing her to look at him while nodding in confirmation; before seeing him next pulling out a picture from his book and handing it over to her.

"I don't know this name personally… But I did know this little boy," He admitted causing Sarada, Boruto, and even Sasuke's interest to peak.

"It's…What is this?" Sarada asked immediately at seeing the photo closer, before taking the photo from her father; as she put the two images side by side for comparison sake.

"If this is truly the person you are referring too... Then he must have changed his name, this boy in the picture was a child of a fellow couple that had escaped with us many years ago… I believe his given name was… Kibo… Fumetsu." He spoke while looking at the trio.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long delay, I had to finish what I could on this one using my phone and a friends computer; so there may be more errors than usual. Next chapter will have more back story and more of Sasuke's response to the information.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

 **Disclaimer this chapter does contain a lot of flashbacks, also I didn't get a lot of time to edit this chapter so there may be changes. Thanks!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

" …. Fumetsu…Kibo?" Sasuke said while looking back at Hideki, over the unexpected revelation that was revealed about Daichi.

 **Flashback** **(Chapter 10)**

"Because we were thought to be dangerous, it was decided that we couldn't be left alive and so began an attack on our clan out of fear, and one by one our village was burned down and our people were killed." Hideki spoke after taking a book from Sasuke, as he went to put it back in its regular spot.

"It was truly a terrible thing what happened to us … But Luckily for me and Itaru, we were able to escape along with a young couple; though I heard sadly they were found and killed a few years back as well. So me and Itaru being the last ones alive waited a couple of years, before we finally seeked out refuge here in Konoha right under everyone's noses and had lived a moderately free life in spite of all that has happened."

 **End Flashback**

"I thought you said it was only you and this Itaru that were the only ones left alive?" Sasuke suddenly asked next while looking at the man, after recalling Hideki's story of what had happened to the Fumetsu clan.

"Yes that's right… I had no idea that he was honestly still alive, and in my old age I had nearly forgotten about him until I saw that picture." He admitted while looking at the image.

Sarada left in the dark along with Boruto while watching the interaction between the shop owner and her father, as she was still highly confused what he was talking about; watched next as the man put a hand up to his chin, in uncertainty himself before trying to further explained what he had meant as he continued.

"You see not long after we escaped with our lives… Me, Itaru, and the young couple lived together as a family constantly on the move and watchful of our surroundings and of each other. However once we had learned the couple were expecting some years later, me and Itaru thought it best we finally part ways from the growing family; to keep them safer in hopes of giving them a better chance, since we were still highly sought after.

Once we split from one another, we did continued to keep in contact through carefully written letters; just to make sure the couple was still doing fine. And eventually the pair found a place to call home and we started to receive pictures along with the messages … But that picture I've shown you was the last one we received from the couple, before they were killed and naturally I had assumed that meant there young child as well." Hideki admitted as he felt pained by the outcome for the pair.

 **Flashback** **(Chapter 14)**

"I don't know too much about Daichi's early childhood… Like you said we're cousins, but I guess it's worth mentioning we aren't actually blood related. From what my parents have told me he was a pretty troubled kid, always getting into bad situations and very rebellious; but it's to be expected with his background." Saori paused while looking down as she spoke to Sarada.

"His background?" Sarada questioned while tilting her head.

"Umm… You seem like a really smart girl, so I'm sure you can understand the impact of losing a parent or someone dear to you could have. Well poor Daichi lost his birth parents at a really young age, and he was on his own for a while; eventually my Aunt and Uncle adopted him and tried to raise him as their own. But unfortunately they too passed away and later after that Daichi came to live with me and my family." she said somberly.

"I'm sorry to hear about your family… What happened… To his parents?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm not sure of the assorted details when it comes to his birth parents, but for my Aunt and Uncle… I know to this day Daichi still feels responsible for their deaths. You see it happened around the time Daichi was ten or so, and someone had broken into my aunt and uncle's home late at night; strangely the robbers didn't take anything but while defending Daichi my aunt and uncle were unfortunately killed, while poor Daichi was left for dead after being injured in the attack."

 **End Flashback**

"It must be true." Sarada thought to herself after hearing Hideki's explanation, while thinking of her conversation with Saori about Daichi losing his birth parent's at a young age confirming the man's story as it almost matched up perfectly.

"So you're saying Daichi isn't even his real name it's this… Fumetsu Kibo person?" Sarada finally spoke up, as she tried to make sure she was understanding everything correctly.

However Sasuke noticing the mugger had been unnoticeably stirring awake, as he seemed to flinch at hearing Sarada mentioning the newly learned name; made him instantly shift his attention back to the tied up man, as he found his response incriminating that there was an unexpected connection between the pair.

"So you know this guy don't you?" He said next causing the man to freeze up, at seeing Sasuke's red eye looking towards him.

 **Hospital**

Elsewhere while examining a blood sample that Daichi had obtained for her, after the pair had finished up their autopsy; Sakura ultimately finding no irregularities in the blood after looking at it with her microscope, as she changed the depth of the image further. Felt completely stumped at this discouraging discovery, especially considering the strange puncture marks on Mr. Ito's arm that she couldn't explain; as she had hoped it would lead to an almost positive result, based off of Sasuke's prior notes.

The Uchiha pulling back from the device after finding her head begining to hurt, as she sat back frustratingly next before reaching for her sore temple; heard her named being suddenly called next, breaking her induced concentration as she slowly turned around behind her.

"Sakura-san…" Daichi said after getting closer as he wanted to speak with her; after some noticeable prolonged silence between the pair.

"Yes what is it?" Sakura said unsure of what he needed, as she was slightly annoyed by being interrupted.

"You were right before about my hasten work... As a doctor I should be searching more thoroughly my apologies." He said first while bowing to her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable by the gesture.

"You really don't have to…" She said hesitantly, before seeing him interrupting her once he lifted his gaze to meet with hers.

"I also want to apologize for what happened with Sarada-chan as well… I feel terrible about the situation this must put you in, and I wanted to let you know I plan on overlooking her indiscretions for lashing out at me. I mean when you really think about it, it can't be easy for a young girl like that seeing someone other than her father so close to you… like last night. ." He said while walking closer.

"Especially In front of her father," He added before placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at his hand.

 **Flashback (Chapter 6)**

"That was nice of the Nanadaime to invite us to dinner," Sarada spoke happily, before she yawned while stretching her arms out.

"Yeah… I'm just really glad to have time with your papa and Naruto but mainly… with you." Sakura said while nudging her daughter, causing her to look back at Sakura with big eyes.

"But you haven't seen papa in such a long time, why aren't you more happy to see him?" She asked as she felt uneasy by the comment.

"I know it seems silly but the relationship me and you have is different than the one I have with your papa, I worry about you… Especially when you're on your own so much …I'm sorry I've been working a lot more lately." She apologized to her with a sympathetic face.

Sarada taken aback to have her mother apologize to her, felt strangely glad to hear it as she was relieved to know her mother wasn't intentionally forgetting about her. "It's okay but … Aren't you ever worried about your relationship to papa?" she decided to ask after she herself came to a stop.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked since she wasn't sure about the reasoning for her question.

"That man… Daichi the way he was hugging you… I don't know what papa would have done if he had…" she spoke before finding Sakura quickly stop her.

"Now I see… You're worried about your papa getting the wrong idea is that right?" She asked as she looked at her to check her expression; as she noticed her daughter looking away while having a nervous blush on her face.

 **End Flashback**

Sakura recalling some of her conversation with Sarada, as she could understand what had really set her off in attacking the doctor; felt embarrassingly to blame for the easily avoided situation. Since she herself couldn't deny how it must have looked and felt for her daughter, to see Daichi carrying her back home with Sasuke there waiting; as she could hardly recall herself what all had happened that night before.

However Sakura feeling the doctor's hand leaving her shoulder as she snapped back to reality, after watching him place it back into his pocket; happened to next something falling to the ground from his inner coat; before seeing it had been a blood cover handkerchief, most likely from the visible nick on Daichi's mouth from Sarada's punch to his face from their altercation.

"Daichi-kun …You're right, it's my fault what happened between you and Sarada… Gomenasai." She sincerely spoke, catching him off guard by her apologizing to him instead of Sarada.

"Eh?…Sakura-san, Don't blame yourself really... I just hope I didn't cause any trouble with you and your husband, I'm sure that wasn't ideal for us to meet each other in that way." He said next while checking her response to his comment.

"Ummm… Sasuke-kun wasn't worried about that at all." She said honestly while looking down with a smile, causing Daichi to unsuspectingly grip his fist at hearing this; as she seemed overly confident he hadn't been offended or threatened by his presence.

 **Flashback (Chapter 12)**

Daichi holding onto a drunken Sakura while maintaining eye contact with Sasuke, as he couldn't help find a smirk wanting to come across his face at finally seeing the Uchiha; didn't know what to expect from the situation, before seeing Sarada rushing over to her father; as she tried quickly to defuse any tension that could arise between the pair.

"Papa I know this looks bad but, it's okay mama's only been drinking and," She started to explain to him before noticing the doctor surprisingly getting closer to the pair; causing Sarada to stop after sensing his close presence and now possible open death wish.

"Uchiha …Sasuke I presume," he said to him directly, making Sarada next narrow her eyes at the deadly implications of his known attitude towards her father; as she definitely wouldn't be saving him.

"Gomen… I know it's not an ideal situation speaking with you directly like this, but I was treating Sakura-san to a meal; since she helped me out the other day… Though I didn't take her for a light drinker," He spoke hurriedly before kneeling down, making Sarada act quickly catching his hint to help her from the doctor's back.

"Mama…" Sarada spoke trying to wake her up before seeing her mother's eyes gradually stir open a bit. "Are you okay?" she asked next before seeing how red her mother's face seemed to be.

"Sarada?... My… lovely daughter." She said in a giggly tone, before reaching to wrap her arms around Sarada's neck proving Daichi's words for once were accurate, since Sarada could easily smell the alcohol on her mother's breath.

Sasuke looking down at Sakura before looking up at the Doctor without as much as a word or thanks, saw next the man bowed before turning to leave promptly; since Sakura was now in the care of her family.

"Ja ." Daichi spoke after turning his back and waiving a hand, while he gradually increased the distance between himself and Sasuke.

 **End Flashback**

"How?…How can you be so sure?." Daichi asked with a change of tone in his voice, after recalling his encounter with Sasuke; since he didn't show how he felt outwardly to the situation.

"Sasuke-kun isn't really the jealous type but mainly…He just was worried something may have happened to me. Though he knows I can take care of myself." She answered, while thinking of her husband; as she found a small chuckle come out over his typical nature.

"So ka?.." Daichi said softly after his hair lowered, covering up his eyes. "Well I'm going to get something to drink would you like anything?" he suddenly asked next as he got ready to leave.

"Sure a coffee would be great… Thank you…" She responded before seeing him leaving the area after shutting the door.

Sakura however waiting for him to leave first, as she was finally left in the room alone; found herself getting up to walk around as she eventually, made her way over to Mr. Ito's still covered up body. Before finding herself uncovering the top half of the sheet, as she looked back at him sadly; at feeling she had let him and his wife down.

 **Flashback**

Sitting in her desk as she shuffled up some paper work, Sakura slowly sliding them over to an elderly woman; setting on the opposite side of the desk watched her taking the documents carefully from her, as she picked up a pen reluctantly before signing the paper with her signature.

"Mrs. Ito…Thank you for this, I know this is very hard for you. But by examining your husband I believe we could find the help we need to save several lives." Sakura said to the new widow, as she handed her the consent forms to proceed with doing the autopsy.

"Thank you for all that you've done to help my husband… I know if he were here he would want to help the same as I. Even though we both are older, I know it was only a matter of time I would have left with him so knowing this can save people helps ease the pain. "She answered back causing Sakura to bow for her understanding.

"Thank you." She spoke once more.

 **End flashback**

"Gomen…" she said out loud, while thinking of his widowed wife; as she was overconfident in her own skills and his contribution to heal others.

However as she began to recover up his body once and for all, Sakura finding herself hesitating before covering up his face; decided one last time to take a second look over his body, as she next went back to examining the puncture wound on his arm once again.

 **Bookstore**

"So that's him right, the person who hired you?" Sasuke asked the mugger after taking noticed to his jumpy behavior, as he next placed a hand on his neck to assure he had no problem breaking it.

"Papa what's going on?" Sarada asked while watching the two worriedly, as she had rarely ever seen her father become this intense at the tied up stranger.

"Speak up," Sasuke demanded next while he easily ignored his daughters question.

"I won't be telling you," The man finally said hoarsely before giving Sasuke a strange grin, confusing him further by the gesture. "A dead man has nothing to fear," He commented next, before Sasuke noticed he had worked his hand free enough to inject himself with something; as the man started to convulse before losing consciousness permanently making Sarada, Boruto and Hideki stunned by the man's action to commit suicide.

However Sasuke unphased as he bent down to pick up the syringe the man had used, as it was completely empty; wondered how dangerous this Daichi slash Kibo person could possibly be to make the man take his own life with a smile, as it seemed to him to be a better fate then the one waiting for him.

Not having long to dwell on this question as a familiar voice spoke behind him, Sasuke turning around with everyone else was surprised to see the Hokage in the flesh; making his way inside of the shop catching everyone off guard by his presence.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked immediately before watching Boruto run up to his father and punching him in the gut causing him to double over at the unexpected blow.

"What's going on with Okasan…" he demanded since Sasuke hadn't answered his question from before.

"Ugh…This is how you greet your father," Naruto spoke painfully as he held his stomach at the aching blow, however the Nanadaime placing a hand on his son's head causing him to stop; allowed his understandable outburst towards him to slide, since he had purposely hid the truth from him as he tried to explain one on one.

Watching Boruto and his father speaking with one another, as the Hokage knelt down on one knee to talk with his son face to face; Sarada turning to her own father as she wanted an explanation from him as well, had also wanted to know her father's thoughts and feelings over this regrettable situation and his plans to handle it promptly.

"Papa what will you do now?… What about Daichi?" She asked with a solemn face as she fought back brimming tears from her obvious frustration towards him. However seeing her father walking towards her as he pulled her into his stomach covering her up with his cape, caused Sarada's eyes to shake as his arm was firmly wrapped around her; consoling her shaky heart and mixed feelings.

"Daijobu…" He spoke first before pulling away from her slowly to look at her in the eyes.

"I'm going to pay this man a visit now… He won't take your mother away, I won't let him," He said with a firm serious expression, causing Sarada for the first time to feel confident in his serious tone of voice.

* * *

 **So once again apologies, I'm still limited with my computer time. So next chapter may take some time to post, Thanks for the comment there is no offense taken by it. It's actually pretty accurate statement, At first I mainly wanted Sakura and Sasuke with a little bit of Sarada, but as the story progressed it did kind of turn into Sarada's perspective of her parents. I do have many SasuSaku interactions planned on their own and I'm sure you'll be excited to hear the next chapter will be Sakura and Sasuke reuniting once again. So please look forward to it. :P And I'll post as soon as I can.**

 **Update : Yeah sorry for so many flashbacks I wanted to make sure the connections in other chapters made sense especially because the story is long :P, from here on out most flashbacks will contain new content and I'll try to minimize them if there are referring to older chapters.**

 **Preview: Chapter 21 Sasuke and Sarada rush to the hospital, Sakura finds some disturbing truths and Sasuke and Sakura finally reunite.**

 **Posting Chapter 21 SOON!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's college with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **Bookstore**

As Sarada looked at her father after his declaration that he would pay Daichi a visit personally, along with finding a long overdue relief come over her; as he would surely set things right once and for all. The Uchiha turning back to relay to Boruto the wonderful news , found the young ninja unexpectedly having a distraught expression on his face after his own talk with his father, as he looked to be in physical pain; making her anxious by this and the Hokage's unexpected appearance.

"Boruto?" Sarada had questioned under her breath, before seeing the Hokage coming up to her and Sasuke as well.

"Sorry, I heard from some reliable sources that the kids were spotted on their way here; so I tried to hurry as fast as I could." He apologized directly to Sasuke, causing Sarada too look back at her father as they briefly eyed one another.

" … It's okay they were actually a great help, we've determined that a doctor by the name of Daichi is also a member of the Fumetsu clan." He revealed to Naruto, before Hideki unexpectedly stepped in to speak to the Hokage next.

"Nanadaime my apologies… It seems we may have caused trouble once again for Konoha. I've explained to Sasuke here that you may do what you wish of me." He spoke to him directly, before seeing Naruto lifting his hand; as he waived it for him to say no more, as he instead presented the confused man with a warm smile.

"That's not necessary whatever difference Konoha had with your people it is long since forgotten, I just wish we could take back the tragedy that happened to your people…" he paused while giving him a sincere look. "Sasuke also informed me of your willingness to help in spite of the past… And for that we're in your debt." He added next before noticing the newly dead man lying on the ground.

"He took his own life… I couldn't get him to talk much but from what I can tell, he was more scared of this doctor than of me…. He ended up taking this," Sasuke spoke after noticing Naruto's concerned expression, as he next handed over the syringe the man had used.

"Really?" Naruto commented to himself while examining the empty container. "He must be dangerous… We'll need to work fast to apprehend him, the last time I spoke with him Shikamaru was still around the area, I'll send word for him to go to the hospital as soon as he can. To obtain this doctor until we can get there." He added next, as Sasuke nodded in agreement to the open suggestion.

Watching the interaction between her father and the Hokage as she was still highly unsure of everything that was happening, Sarada noticing Boruto slipping away outside while their fathers continued to speak with one another; found herself next turning to the old shop keeper Hideki. Before she decided to ask him directly while the adults were busy, what was truly happening to Konoha and what it meant to be a Fumetsu; as from all accounts it seemed to her to be more of a curse than anything else.

"Excuse me sir, could you explain a few things to me? She asked quietly enough for only him to hear, while giving him a serious expression.

 **Hospital**

At the hospital as she examined Mr. Ito's body for a second time while Daichi was away getting something for the pair to drink, Sakura seeing no other abnormalities with the odd puncture mark on his arm; as it was far from a fresh wound. Found something else catching her attention instead, as she noticed a small bandage virtually hidden on the underside of Mr. Ito's lower back upon further inspection; making the Uchiha admittedly aware even with her own strong eye she had missed this earlier find, since she had spent more time examining the insides of Mr. Ito's body opposed to the out.

However in moving the stiff body carefully so she could get a better look at the dressing, as she began to peel it away slowly; Sakura seeing a small injection mark as it seemed fairly new, felt her eyebrows frown as it was abnormal to have this kind of mark on his body; especially after death.

"What is this?" She spoke to herself, before seeing there had been more faded marks along the side of his back as well; as they were harder to notice than the initial fresh mark she had found first.

 **Flashback**

"Good morning Mr. Ito." Sakura said after entering into a hospital room, with a very cheerful man sitting in a hospital bed hooked up to various machines.

"Ah…Good morning to you Mrs. Uchiha… Hope everything is well." He asked happily while giving her his undivided attention, as he had been reading prior.

"Ummm….As well as can be expected despite things becoming so busy around here. I hear my colleague has been taken very good care of you in my absence, but I wanted to check on you myself … " She spoke while she pulled up his chart, to mark her visit with him.

"Yes your colleague has treated me kindly, though he does seem to be green around the edges…" he added with a chuckle causing Sakura to smile back at him.

"He is still learning but I'll make sure he does well and succeeds in being a good doctor… and as for you… Are you feeling any better today?" she added purposely eyeing him to answer honestly.

"Well about that… Don't tell the Mrs. …I thought I was feeling better, but it seems like today I haven't been feeling very well… I've also been having some pain in my back when I wake up in the mornings." He added making Sakura concerned by this complaint.

"Shall I have a look?" She asked next before seeing him stopping her quickly.

"It's okay I'm fine don't go fussing over me; you have plenty of other patients to see and take care of … Besides I'm sure it's just from old age," He said optimistically despite his sickly condition.

 **End Flashback**

Recalling her conversation with Mr. Ito as she looked at the markings on his back, Sakura knowing she hadn't gotten to visit him much on his last few days alive; as she had been overly busy with other new patients. Next went to her clip board for her old patient, as she flipped frantically through his documented pages; before confirming quickly the only other doctor that had seen Mr. Ito other than her.

 **Outside**

Elsewhere while Boruto sat outside of Hideki's show as he threw around some rocks, Sarada stepping outside shortly after him as she sat next to the teen; tried her best to get him to talk about what was going on, since she wanted to support him as he had supported her through her tough time with her parents and with the situation with Daichi.

"Boruto…" she spoke first before he interrupted her quickly.

"Okasan is really sick… and my old man doesn't know what can be done to heal her." He spoke while looking away, as he tried to play cool about the dreadful situation.

Shocked to hear this as she initially was at a loss for words, Sarada thinking about all the sick people she had seen in the hospital herself; along with what Hideki had revealed to her about the Fumetsu clan, tried to give Boruto encouragement as she wanted him to trust in her mother and the power of the Uchiha.

"Listen Boruto… The old man Hideki said whatever this may be it's caused by a special blood limit that is in him and Daichi. Once we explain this to my mom she can use this information to find a cure… Believe in her she's the best doctor there is." She reassured before hearing her father, coming out of the store next.

"I'm heading there now …" Sasuke spoke before suddenly taking off, ultimately leaving Sarada behind much to her surprise.

"Papa?…" She called out before turning around, and seeing Hideki coming out of his shop as well, with some assistance from Naruto.

"Are you sure you are willing to do this?" Naruto asked the slow moving man, as he closed the door to his shop.

"Yes more than sure." He answered back with a smile.

Seeing Hideki was going to come with them to the hospital, as she began to worry about his beyond turtle slow pace; Sarada anxiously looking back at the slow moving man, as she had wanted to be there personally to see her father pummel Daichi the moment the two met once again. Found the Hokage abruptly making eye contact with her, before he nodded his head in approval catching her off guard by the gesture; as he spoke secondly to ease her worried mind.

"Sarada go ahead… We'll catch up." Naruto spoke as he gave her a thumbs up in support.

"Nanadaime… Arigato…" She bowed before turning and rushing off to catch up with her father as her eyes changed intensity.

 **Hospital**

Opening up the door slowly using his back as he held onto two covered drinks, Daichi setting one down while placing the other on the table gazed around before reaching into his pocket; as he poured something into one of the coffee's before mixing it up and placing the lid back on.

"Sakura san I've brought your coffee." He spoke up, before noticing how quite the room had been after a minute or two of not hearing a response.

"Sakura-san?" he questioned while setting down the drinks, as he noticed looking around more carefully; that some of her things were already gone along with her as well.

"Where did she," he found himself mumbling next until he noticed the partly uncovered body for Mr. Ito, causing his curiosity to spike after he recalled seeing for himself Sakura covering him up fully; long before he had left to retrieve drinks for the pair, as the half-done worked seemed oddly out of place especially for her.

Deciding to check things out for himself over the oddness and Sakura's unspoken departure, as he got closer to the body; Daichi finding the chart for the patient lying on the ground as he bent down to pick up, found himself next removing the covering on Mr. Ito completely. Before seeing for himself on brief examination that a dressing he had placed earlier on his back, was fully removed making the doctor suspicious of Sakura's thoughts on seeing the bandage; especially since he didn't report it on his autopsy sheet, as he gradually became nervous and anxious .

 **Sakura's Office**

After rushing back to her office as she shut the door right behind her, Sakura moving some things out of the way to make room on her semi cluttered desk; next set up a microscope she had taken from the examination lab earlier, as she prepped a new blood sample she had retrieved on her way to the personal room before taking a look at it, after tucking some hair behind her ear as she nervously awaited her findings.

 **Flashback**

"It was Daichi" Sakura said before dropping her clipboard to the floor, at seeing he was the only other doctor to visit Mr. Ito.

"Why did he…" she asked herself next. Before turning around slowly and staring at the blood plated slab sitting on her microscope, as she recalled back to him giving it to her already prepped and ready; making her aware that it was most likely tampered with, causing her previous negative findings despite thinking otherwise.

Finding herself at a loss for words as she couldn't understand why the doctor would willingly do this, Sakura remembering she still had an older blood sample from Mr. Ito she could still utilize; decided almost instantaneously to go back to her office to confirm once and for all, if there had been truly a connection linked with Mr. Ito's fatal sickness and the blood limit of the Fumetsu like Sasuke had suggested.

 **End Flashback**

Focusing her tool more on the blood sample she had retrieved as on first glance the blood seemed completely normal, Sakura however changing the intensity of the glass lenses as her perception was increased a hundred fold; found stunningly the blood had slightly looked different than her assessment before as it seemed vaguely abnormal, with the invading cells being slightly bigger than the typical ones and in an unusual shape and structure.

"So it's true…" Sakura found herself saying while sitting back a few moments, as she tried to understand now; why Daichi had an involvement with the Fumetsu clan.

However thinking of his possible connection before she reached into her coat pocket next, Sakura pulling out the handkerchief she had retrieved from the floor with Daichi's blood freshly on it; had decided next to test a small sample of it, as she was interested to see what the results would determine.

 **Outside**

Arriving to the hospital as he found his feet hitting the dirt covered ground, Sasuke seeing Sarada had kept up with him as she wasn't very far behind; began walking up to the hospital door, before seeing two Jounin standing on guard on the outside. Making Sarada recognized the pair from before being the ones that stopped her from pummeling Daichi earlier.

"Excuse me Uchiha Sasuke-san … You may pass but I'm afraid she cannot." One of the Jounin spoke up while placing a hand in front of Sarada stopping her from going any further inside.

However seeing a scowl look on the adult Uchiha's face at his gesture as he quickly took back his hand, the Jounin easily recognizing Sasuke's outstanding authority without as much as a word from him directly; moved away quickly from the door after his single serious glance, causing Sarada to hold back a smile at her father's strong presence, before following close behind him back of the hospital once again as this time they wouldn't be stopped.

 **Hospital**

Walking rapidly down the hallway as it was still highly busy with nurses and patients rushing around the ward; Daichi trying to track down Sakura after she had disappeared, since he had wanted to talk with her personally. Found himself stopping at hearing some distinct talking once he turned the next corner, forcing him to hide at seeing a spiky hair Jounin following behind the scheduling nurse Lily; as the two seemed to be in a hurry of their own, walking towards the place he had just come from in an obvious hunt of someone specifically.

"He should be in the autopsy area? What is going on why do you need to speak with Daichi?" Lilly had asked Shikamaru directly, after she had pulled out a pair of keys before attempting to enter the sectioned off area.

"We just need to have a word with the doctor that's all." He added before the two continued on.

Daichi waiting for the pair to go through the doors first, before his expression shifted into a glare; found the newest turn of events troubling; as he started to move once again this time being more cautious about being noticed as he was highly on guard.

 **Sakura's Office**

Feeling terrible for not seeing the connection sooner as her hands ran through her freshly tussled locks, Sakura seeing that Daichi's blood cells looked similar to that of the ones that had attacked Mr. Ito's; as she was able to determine after a brief assessment he had been an actually carrier of the vaguely defined blood limit described in Sasuke's earlier notes.

Sakura having several thoughts racing through her mind at this outcome, as she now more than ever needed to find a cure for this devastating illness; found her concentration shift abruptly at hearing the door suddenly turning, making her concerned that it had been Daichi as she kept on guard while the door opened up slowly.

However seeing on the other side of the door a tall silhouette as she blinked her eyes several times in disbelief, Sakura seeing Sasuke standing at her door instead of the doctor; as she was beyond shocked by his presence, found quickly a second surprise in seeing Sarada coming out from behind him, as she without hesitation rushed over to her mother giving her a big hug causing her to stumble back.

"Sarada?... Are you alright?" She asked while bending down to check her, since she had been worried about her the entire time.

"I'm fine are you okay?" she asked in return, while equally being just as concerned for her mother.

"I'm fine… I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner," She spoke softly before giving her a hug, while equally looking up at Sasuke as he continued to remain silent.

"Mama there is something we need to tell you … Papa and I found out something about Daichi and…?" Sarada said before her mother interrupted after letting her go from the hug.

"I know…" She said surprising not only Sarada but Sasuke as well. "Daichi-kun… I mean Daichi is a part of that clan in your notes isn't he?" she asked Sasuke directly whom only nodded in return.

"How did you find out?" Sarada asked unsure she would have even believed her let alone figuring it out on her own.

"One of my patients that passed away had injection marks along his back, Daichi was the only one other than me assisting with him..." Sakura paused as she felt sick to her stomach thinking of him taking advantage of patients.

" …. I don't know why he did it but we need to find him." Sakura added somberly next.

"Don't worry… Nanadaime sent for Shikamaru sensei to find him, and with papa rushing to get her so fast I doubt he will get far," Sarada said happily.

"Hontou?" Sakura commented at hearing Sasuke rushing to get to the hospital.

Sarada however watching her mother eyeing her father, as she began to recall how her parents hadn't really talked with one another since their fight the night before; as now was the perfect time with the two in the same room together, to be left alone. Quickly recalled to Naruto and Boruto, being on their way with Hideki as she excused herself from the room, to bring them to where her parents were now as she quickly began to take off.

"Mama…Papa… I'm gonna go find the Nanadaime... I'll be back." She spoke before leaving abruptly, catching her parents a little off guard.

Sasuke however watching his daughter leave before he looked back at Sakura, found her walking closer towards him before falling into his chest; as he without thought placed a hand around her shoulder.

"Anata… Gomen…." She said almost mimicking the gesture he had shown her the night before as she was to drunk and angered to respond properly at that time.

"You … you don't need to apologize…" He spoke as he allowed her to get even closer to him after she wrapped her arms around his firm waist.

"I was wrong to get mad at you …" She started to say before feeling Sasuke suddenly silencing her after lifting her chin and pressing his warm lips against hers, as her eyes quickly expanded and lowered at the softness of his kiss while her cheeks began to flush.

* * *

 **So I won't go too much into the Sakura, Sasuke are clueless thing, cause I respect everyone's opinion and views of this story as they are going to be different. I do want to mention I love the characters as much as everyone else, and I will say its best kept in mind that despite the many chapters this does happen in a short span of time, honestly in two days for the last few chapters.** **:)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's colleague with a attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 **Outside**

Removing the objects that signified his status as a doctor, as he threw away his name tag and stethoscope while exiting out of the emergency back exit discreetly; Daichi moving fast and with purpose after successfully slipping away without being noticed, prior to his impending manhunt. Found not long after stepping outside of the facility, a nearby car pulling up to greet him; signaling the doctor to jump inside without hesitation, before the vehicle sped off the moment the door slammed behind him.

While the vehicle was in motion as he slowly sat back in his seat before he reaching up to undue his tie, the Doctor finding the eye of the driver catching his attention as he had adjusted the rear view mirror accordingly; watched next as the man tossed him a small phone to him, before requesting their new objective as he was distancing himself further and further from the hospital.

"So where to now… Mr. Kibo?…" The driver asked, before Daichi started looking at the phone as he clinched the device in his hand agitatedly.

 **Flashback (Chapter 21)**

Rushing to get too Sakura after leaving the autopsy area, as he wasn't entirely certain of what she had found out on her obvious second observation of Mr. Ito; Daichi finding himself suddenly being stopped by one of the nurses in the hallway as she seemed to have a chart waiting on hand for him to go over, found himself troubled by the holdup as he tried to get past her to no avail.

"Excuse me Daichi-sempai… Can you sign this for me?" She asked with a smile while handing a noticeably thick set of documents.

"Ugh…Look I really need to go…Maybe later" He tried to explain; as it would take him far too much time to go through the thick paper, he noticed her holding onto.

"Please, this is a mandatory form only a doctor can feel out, and everyone else is too busy to look at it; it's urgently needed for a patient." She insisted more while pulling out a pin from her upper coat pocket before next, pushing it closer to the doctor for him to take; as she witnessed him finally complying with her request, as he took the clip board speedily.

"I guess I can ask you this since you're here but… Have you seen Sakura-san?" Daichi thought to ask, as he recalled her claim about all the other doctors being too busy.

"Oh yes I have just a couple of moments ago, she needed me to grab something for her…" She admitted with a smile, causing Daichi to stop his writing.

"Where is she now?" he asked quickly before seeing a devilish smirk come over the female's face.

"I won't tell you until you finish that form." She said in a serious joking manner, causing Daichi to pull back on his increasingly annoyed face; as he tried to hurry as fast as he could with the documents.

Once he had finished with the rushed signatures as he hurried in the direction of Sakura's office; after learning first hand from the nurse of her whereabouts, Daichi seeing the room within his sight as he continued to get closer. Found himself suddenly stopping after seeing a familiar Kunoichi leaving out of the room next, as he was overly astounded to see her back in the hospital; making him apprehensive for the reason of her reappearance, as she seemed to be in high spirits.

 **End Flashback**

Thinking about not being able to speak too Sakura directly, as he twiddled the phone in his anxious hand, Daichi recalling where the wrench in his plan had lied; as his hand slowly became more steady. Next flipped open the electronic device, before dialing a number as the ringing persisted until someone finally picked up.

"Hello?"…

 **Sakura's Office**

Once Sasuke had finally let go of Sakura's soft lips, as he could see while staring back at her; the color tented flush still prominent on her cheeks over his loving affection. The Uchiha seeing a small comforted grin begin to form on his wife's face next as she seemed to be more than a little relieved, knew it had been due to his sudden appearance; as he too was thankful that nothing bad had happened to her, since his concern had been real in spite of her own ability to take care of herself.

However in thinking of her capabilities as he watched her altering facial expression change once again, Sasuke seeing Sakura suddenly glancing back to the microscope sitting on her desk behind them; as it got his attention right away, knew she still had a lot on her plate with finding a cure for this unknown illness as he worried the pressure of the task was far too great even for her.

"Sakura are you okay?…." He spoke up, before reaching for the side of her face; forcing her to look back at him in a gentle yet firm manner.

"Umm …Daijobu … Can you please… Fill me in on the rest of what you were able to find out?" She suddenly asked causing him to look at her worriedly.

 **Autopsy Area**

Elsewhere after searching around for Daichi, as he was led by Lilly to the autopsy area; Shikamaru finding the room upon entry had been completely empty, despite seeing there had still been two semi warm drinks left sitting out on the table. Found himself next looking back at the nurse questionably, as he needed to know where the doctor had gone off to now; as he wasn't in obvious sight.

"I thought you said he was here?" He asked before seeing she was just as unsure by the comment.

"He was supposed to be here along with Uchiha Sakura… I just saw him not that long ago." She questioned as she didn't understand, where he could have gone off to after reviewing his schedule.

"Sakura?..." Shikamaru questioned under his breath, before looking back at the two cups of coffee strangely. "Lilly isn't it? I need you to send out word to have the hospital searched thoroughly for this doctor, we need any available hand looking for him immediately." He yelled out as the nurse nervously nodded her head at his change of tone, before leaving to relay the message; leaving Shikamaru behind in the room.

However the smart witted shinobi waiting purposely for her to leave, as he reached for one of the coffee cups next; found upon examining both drinks something catching his attention as he quickly took one of the cups with him leaving shortly behind the nurse.

 **Outside**

Seeing the Hokage, Boruto, and Hideki's arrival to the hospital as she had waited on them to finally show; giving her parents more time alone together with one another as it was long overdue, Sarada waiving for them to follow her as she got to work on escorting them inside of the hospital. Found she now had no problem moving around the building freely; as the nurses from before allowed her to go through the back without a word, causing her to hide her satisfactory grin at the major turn of events.

 **Flashback (Chapter 21)**

"I'm sorry you can't come back here." A female voice said at seeing Sasuke and Sarada trying to go back to find Sarada's mother.

"We're here on official business, besides we have the permission from the Hokage." Sarada tried to explain, since she could sense her father getting impatient; as she wanted to spare the woman from any potential harm, especially since she was clearly just doing her job.

However the woman not accepting this word of mouth request, as she wasn't going to budge in overlooking the new strict policy; Sarada worryingly looking back at her father as she wondered what he would do next. Found instead a familiar voice suddenly vouching for her and his appearance, as she turned around quickly before seeing a well-known face to match the voice.

"That is enough now… This is our Top doctor's daughter… and this is her husband who is close personal friends with the Hokage… Let them through…" Mrs. Izumi spoke as she seemed stern in her voice, since she had been a valuable head nurse.

"But Izumi-san we can't just…" The nurse tried to explain before finding Izumi unhappy with her urgency to allow them through.

"I'm giving them the okay to go to the back… Now step aside." She scolded even further, before the other nurse finally did as she was told; causing Sarada to feel confused, since she assumed Izumi would be disappointed in her and her earlier actions.

However not having long to dwell on this thought, before Sarada watched her father walking away without saying a word; as he typically didn't need or require anyone's permission. Sarada feeling slightly annoyed by him not thanking Izumi at the very least for helping them out, as she bowed properly in his stead; the Uchiha looking back up before she caught the smile of the nurse staring back at her, got to work next on apologizing to her personally, as the altercation was a poor misrepresentation of her character.

"Izumi-San thank you… I'm sorry about earlier," She added before Izumi interrupted her.

"No need to apologize, I don't know what all is going on but I'm truly sorry I couldn't have helped you earlier… but on the bright side it seems your father is very driven about finding your mother." She said with a smile, causing Sarada to blush at his open interest in her mother.

"You better get going" Izumi added next, while nodding her head in direction to the back.

"Thank you…" Sarada said before suddenly stopping and turning to look back at her.

"Izumi-san, I have one more favor…" She asked causing the nurse to look at her curiously.

 **End flashback.**

Recalling her run in with Izumi as Sarada led the way for everyone to follow, the Uchiha however wanting first to take a mini pit stop as she suddenly stopped moving; found herself standing in front of a particular room number she had requested to know about, before seeing Boruto's face change at seeing his mother resting in a hospital bed while actively hooked up to an IV.

"Okasan…" he spoke before rushing in to be by her side. As Naruto to was stunned to see her in such a condition, since he admittedly found it hard to take; before finding next Sarada's hand reaching for his, as he looked back at her right away.

"Nanadaime… I can take Hideki to see my mother… You should spend time with your family." She added as she could see the worry written on his face, in spite of him acting strong for Boruto.

"Will you be okay on your own?" He questioned before seeing her nod her head confidently.

"Hai…"

 **Sakura's Office**

After Sasuke had filled Sakura in on the information he had found thus far, as he sat across from her office desk; Sakura going over some charts as she tried to find any other outstanding connections that could help them, found instead her hand scratching her hair aggressively as she couldn't understand what Daichi's motive could have been for hurting people.

"Sasuke-kun… Do you think this Hideki would know why, Daichi would willingly hurt people." She thought to ask as she couldn't understand from her perspective.

"I don't know …It's hard to know what's in someone's heart but if I were to guess… It could be that he finds Konoha is responsible for what has happened to his clan and people." He spoke up before he and Sakura heard her office door opening up once again.

"You're here?…" A voice spoke up before the pair noticed Shikamaru had looked at them with a surprised expression on his face.

"Shikamaru? What is it?…" Sakura inquired before seeing him close the door slightly behind him.

"It's about Daichi… It seems he was able to get away… A nurse that saw him last had him sign some papers but after that he disappeared." He admitted causing Sakura to look down nervously.

"Then he must know, somehow that we are on to him." She spoke to Sasuke directly, who looked back at her sternly before nodding in agreement.

"And there is something else." Shikamaru added after getting closer, as he next placed a drink cup down on the table.

"What is this?" Sakura asked while looking briefly at the beverage.

"I found this in the area you both were in, something caused me to look inside …" he paused while opening it up for Sakura to see.

"See the bubbling something was put into this particular drink that wasn't in the other…" he added causing Sakura's eyes to expand as Sasuke's shifted troublingly.

"I think he was trying to have you killed, I'm going to work with one of the labs here to have it analyzed further but…Sakura if you are the link to finding a cure, you will need to be even more careful and we will need to have someone guard you at all times." He spoke seriously, as it was a troubling matter considering the circumstances.

Sakura looking at Shikamaru after his discovery, as she was unable to say a word about Daichi attempting to hurt her; found not long after Shikamaru's suggestion Sasuke suddenly speaking up next. As he without hesitation volunteered himself to stay by his wife's side, since he had planned anyway on keeping an eye on her; as he had no greater duty than that of protecting his family.

"I'll do it… Find what you can and find that man…" he spoke sternly with Shikamaru whom nodded in understanding.

 **Hospital**

Walking with Hideki following just behind her as the pair were steadily on their way back to her mother's office; Sarada sensing the old man suddenly stopping from behind her as she quickly turned around, found in looking back the old man had been looking in on some patients being treated, as they were coughing and having a generally hard time much to his disbelief.

"Hideki-san…" She said before seeing how sad the man had looked. "Are you okay?" she asked next since he seemed to be fixated on watching the sickly patients in the room.

"Sorry we never meant for this to happen you know… I can't believe this was done to these innocent people who have done nothing to wrong us." He spoke while thinking back to Boruto and the Hokage.

 **Flashback**

Hideki watching Boruto running into the hospital room with his mother, as she was unconscious in the hospital bed; found a few tears trickling down the boy's cheek, as he reached for her still hand before clenching it tightly in his grasp.

Naruto having spoken to Sarada as he went inside the room shortly after seeing his son in a distraught state as he walked up behind him, next placed a hand on his shoulder before reaching for his wives hand as well; making Hideki look down at seeing the kind family going through such a hard time, as it was something that troubled his heart.

 **End Flashback**

Sarada feeling bad for Hideki as she could tell from her brief encounter with him, that he seemed like a sweet old man; tried to assure him that they still had a chance with her mother being a doctor, since she knew she wouldn't give up in finding a cure to help everyone no matter what.

"Hideki-san my mother will find a cure…Please don't worry, she is a wonderful doctor and very compassionate person." She said with a smile, as Hideki smiled back with seeing how confident she had been in her mother.

 **Outside**

Hearing the screeching of the tires once his car suddenly came to a stop, Daichi seeing the door slowly opening up as he waited patiently on the inside; watched next as a female entered into the car shortly before it began to move once again, as he found himself staring at a familiar face causing him to slowly smile.

"Thank you Daichi-kun for picking me up… I wasn't expecting you this earlier." Saori spoke as she was surprised by his arrival.

"It's no problem at all…" He spoke with a forced smile

 **Flashback**

Moving carefully after watching Sarada leaving her mother's office, as he got closer to the isolated room cautiously; Daichi soon hearing another voice from the inside of the room as it made him on high alert, focused his energy on making his presence undetectable while continuing to get closer as he next look carefully inside.

However finding shortly after his glance inside his eyes expanding rapidly upon visual contact, Daichi witnessing for himself Sasuke and Sakura embraced in an overly passionate lip lock; as the doctor in reaction forcefully bit down on his own lower lip. Could next taste the metallic flavor of his own blood, over his new self-inflicted injury; as he next turned to leave before he was noticed by someone while he stormed off next in a mad hurry.

 **End flashback**

Thinking about how things have played out as his cover was blown, on top of the sudden appearance of Sasuke at the urging of Sarada; Daichi looking at Saori as she had been busy talking about her day and laughing, found his head lower as he reached into his pocket slowly while keeping his gaze away from her.

"Saori…" He spoke catching her attention, as she stopped talking to look back at him.

"I've always loved you… Don't forget that." He spoke causing her have a confused expression.

"Daichi-kun?" She questioned before suddenly feeling something sticking in her shoulder, as she noticed it had been a needle filled with clear fluid; as he pushed it into her skin.

"What is this?" She asked before seeing him finally looking back at her, however this time with solid eyes; as her eyes began to weaken and she began to cough.

"If you had kept your mouth shut I could have let you live… I had planned to keep you and Sakura alive but thanks to you things have become complicated." He spoke before eyeing and nodding for the driver to take a specific turn.

"I … don't understand what was that you injected me with," she spoke after taking the needle and throwing it to the ground, before shortly noticing after the comment her nose had started to bleed.

"I've been doing it for some time now testing the dosages with different people and seeing different effects… but the dosage I used on you is a purified version of my tainted blood… You'll be dead soon, I've made sure it will be quick and almost painless." He spoke coyly as the car suddenly stopped causing Saori to panic, before finding herself coughing up more.

"Daichi." She said angrily before finding herself shake, as she next made a mad dash for the door handle; only to find the door was already locked the moment she pulled on the metal.

"Please why are you doing this…" She started to scream before finding herself becoming much weaker

"Because nothing else in this world matters but her…"he added before getting out of the car himself, once he noticed her falling over and suddenly convulsing.

The driver also getting out of the car, as he waived down for a secondary vehicle that had arrived; as the two got inside and took off leaving Saori in the car unconscious.

* * *

 **Posting Chapter 23 tomorrow.  
**


	23. Chapter 23

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's colleague with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 **Sakura's Office**

After learning along with Sasuke of Daichi's plans to have her murdered, as Shikamaru took the confiscated evidence he had found to a nearby lab to test further. Sakura finding the increasing responsibility of being a doctor weighing heavily on her shoulders, as she needed to be the one to stop Daichi's deplorable tirade; found shortly after Shikamaru had left. Hideki and Sarada had finally made their awaited return, prompting Sakura to greet the pair immediately before reaching a hand out personally to welcome Hideki; as she was more than relived to finally meet him in person.

"You must be Hideki." She commented before seeing the man take her hand.

"Yes and I assume you are the wonderful mother of this well behaved child, that I've been hearing so much about?" He spoke up next, causing Sarada to blush at his praises of her; despite not knowing her very well.

"Yes… At least I hope she behaved well..." Sakura responded with a nervous smile, while scratching the back of her head; at recalling some of her not so well behaved incidences.

"Of course she was... And might I just say Sasuke doesn't talk very much…" Hideki paused while staring at the almost emotionless man. "But I can see why he was so protective of you." He added in, causing Sakura to tilt her head unsure by the comment.

"You are simply stunning…" He added next, causing Sakura to blush in a bashful manner; as she placed her hands on her warming cheeks over hearing the flattering remark.

"I don't know about that..." She quickly tried to speak, since she knew she had looked far from her best.

"No you really do… Why I wouldn't know any man alive today, that could resist your lovely charm…What do you think Sasuke?" Hideki spoke to the closed eyed ninja, as he purposely wanted to hear from him directly his own opinion of his wife.

However Sasuke looking back at the man blankly after hearing his directed question, as he noticed Sakura and Sarada had looked back at him as well; found disturbingly the quieted trio had inquiring looks on their faces while waiting for his response, as they were anxiously to hear his answer to the opened asked question.

"…Hideki has come here to help…We need to focus on that." He finally spoke since there were more pressing matters for the three to attend too; as he successfully dodged the uncouth question, much to the dismay of Hideki and Sarada.

Sakura however finding herself not in the least bit surprised by his avoidance of the question unlike Hideki and Sarada, as it was very Sasuke like in nature; quickly shook off his dismissal to Hideki's question. As she next offered the older man to take a much needed seat, after noticing his labored breathing; as the long travel had obviously worn on him, after seeing it became more and more obvious on his face that he had needed the rest.

"Have a seat…Would you like something to drink?" She offered next, before seeing him waive away the kind gesture; as he was more than fine as he sat down to rest his weary back.

"I'm alright… Please… Do what you must." Hideki said in thinking of Sasuke's words, as he held out both arms; to show he had been ready for her to start her testing.

Sakura looking at Hideki's willingness to help, while she recalled Sasuke telling her about his past of being experimented on; took a seat closer to the man after gathering some tools, as she reached for his arm gently; before asking for his permission to continue.

"Never forget you have a choice in all of this…May I?" She asked warningly before seeing Hideki roll up his sleeves next, as she in turn prepped with gloves and a needle; before reaching for one of his newly exposed arms.

However once Sakura had grabbed a hold of his limb, as she tried to find a good spot to extract some blood for her testing samples; the Uchiha finding herself alarmed upon her brief assessment, as she found his arm had been riddled in scars and markings. Confirmed for her even more the truth in Hideki's story, as the old man had truly lived a difficult life; as the signs of trauma remained heavily imprinted on his body even till this very day.

"You'll just feel a quick sting; it will be over in a moment." She cautioned next after finding a good spot to use, as she sanitized and pricked his tough skin carefully; while she worked proficiently to retrieve her samples, without any pain or discomfort to him.

"Thank you Hideki-san for your help… I know going through this again, couldn't have been easy for you." Sakura spoke while finishing up the third and final vial of blood, as she quickly removed the piercing tool from his skin, before next applying pressure and a bandaged to his arm properly.

"Well if I had a doctor like you taking samples back then, I may not have minded it as much," The old man said while winking to Sakura, as she giggled in reaction at his more obvious flirtatious attempt.

Sasuke however closing his eyes once again over the old man's futile efforts, at flirting with his wife as it wasn't the best time for his new joking manner; abruptly decided to interrupt the twosome once he had noticed Hideki reaching for Sakura's hand, as he got closer to the duo causing them to look back at him while trying to get them back on track.

"Will you be able to find a cure?" he asked his wife straight forwardly, as he was concerned if it could possibly be done.

"I'll do my best… But now that Daichi is gone, I'll need to take these samples to one of the labs. So I can study it further and hopefully break it down past its cellular level." She commented while sealing the three samples carefully, since they were now precious cargo.

"Mama should I come with you..." Sarada finally spoke up, before strangely having her father stop her; as he quickly protested to the open suggestion.

"No…I will go... You two stay put for now." He said while turning behind him, as Sakura agreed to this in silent agreement; before the two took off shortly to head for the lab.

Seeing her parents leaving her behind, before she felt a gradual smile come over her face; Sarada feeling a strong sense of peace after watching her parents together once again, as she let out a thankful sigh before sitting back in her mother's chair to finally relax. Found not long after their departure Hideki noticeably reaching for his chest, as it got her attention instantly; before she went over to check on him, as she tried to assess what was wrong without the aid of her mother.

"Hideki-san…Are you feeling okay?" She asked while helping him sit back in the chair, after noticing him leaning forward after getting noticeably whiter.

"Yes thank you…I'm afraid the travel seems to have left me a little weak," He said before pulling his sleeve's back down over his arm, causing Sarada to remember her mother had taken quite a bit of blood from him earlier.

"...We need to get you some food… Your sugar is probably too low from having too much blood taken." She assessed before extending a hand, as she offered to help him up from his seat.

"I'll be okay and I'm sure your father doesn't want us going too far away," He spoke cautiously as the Uchiha had seemed firm in his earlier comment.

"Its fine we're not leaving the hospital and, besides you have me with you. I won't let anything bad happen to you." She reassured with a smile, forcing Hideki to eventually comply before the two finally left in order to find him something to eat.

 **Lab Area**

Elsewhere after their arrival to one of the unoccupied testing areas after Sakura had made special request to use the room, in hopes of avoiding any unnecessary exposer; to her and Sasuke and their top secret mission. The Uchiha moving hastily to set up her designated working spot, shortly after her entry into the room; as she quickly prepped herself with gloves and a protective mask. Next took out the fresh sample of Hideki's blood from one of the three testing vials, as she placed it cautiously on her transparent slide; before using the amplified lenses of her tool to study it further.

 **Outside**

On the other side of the hospital while holding onto two trays as she lead the way for Hideki to follow her outside, after leaving an overly crowded lunch area. Sarada finding a nice place to sit before she began to prep their plates and silverware quickly, watched next after she was done the old man finally taking his seat; as he bowed over the meal before thanking Sarada directly for her kindness and patience, catching the Uchiha off guard a bit by the overly gracious gesture.

"Arigato Sarada-chan… For having to take care of an old man like me at your age," He spoke while giving her a sincere smile.

"Eh? It's no big deal, besides I just wish there was more that I can do to thank you. You're already doing so much for us," She said while finding herself playing with her food, since she couldn't go with her mother to help; making her feel useless in this seemingly matter for adults.

"Your kindness and company is more than enough…" He said before looking up at the sky, after taking a bite of rice.

"Hideki-san I was wondering…How?… How can you be so kind, I mean I nearly fell apart at the thought of my parents not being together anymore… Let alone what you've gone through." She asked feeling almost selfish in her thoughts and own personal worries.

"Well that's a good question…I think kindness is the only pure light we have left in this world, those who choose to live by kindness, compassion and helping others; can receive way more benefits in life than anything money or power could ever bring." He spoke with a smile.

"And as for your parents… Thought I don't know them very well, what I can tell you is this… You don't ever have to doubt the love between those two. I've lived a long time and finding a love that is pure and strong is a difficult thing… But in watching your parents today, I don't believe anyone can ever break those tough bonds apart." Hideki spoke as Sarada's eyes wavered.

"Really?" She found herself saying quietly, as she couldn't believe he had been that confident in them, while only knowing them a short while.

"Umm… I can see it in their eyes…Those two have been through something together, that neither you nor I could understand and that what makes their bond nearly unbreakable… The strong faith they have in each other," He added as he tried to give Sarada, some of his words of his wisdom from an old man.

Sarada appreciative of his observations, as she thought deeply for a few moments about her parents and their relationship; felt Hideki's genuine words surprisingly energizing to her spirit, before she next took a big bite of rice along with Hideki, as the two continued to sit enjoying their time and the casual wind flowing by.

 **Lab Area**

While Sakura continued to work continuously as Sasuke remained close by watching her from the side, while remaining silent to avoid causing any unnecessary interruptions. The Uchiha finding his wife's diligence unsurprisingly impressive, as she proved her long standing status as a top doctor and medic ninja; watched on next as she unexpectedly pulled her eyes away from her microscope, as she seemed to scrunch up her face catching his attention by the odd facial expression.

"Sakura?" he spoke before seeing her stir around a bit more.

"This blood... Is unreal." She finally said causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow at the comment.

"Nan…da?" he stated next, forcing her to elaborate more on her meaning.

"Well like Hideki told you before, the blood cells of the Fumetsu do attack the non-dominant ones of its unexpected host, it's unnoticeably complex in its structure; yet only a few drops can cause catastrophic effects." Sakura said before changing out her test slide.

"So can you tell what makes them different, than any other person?" Sasuke thought to ask as he was curious about the secret to their inherited blood limit.

"I can't be certain just yet but… In looking at Hideki-san up-close despite his old age; his body has aged very immaturely which is unprecedented… It really is like his body can withstand the test of time… I guess that's why he is still so handsome." Sakura joked before she caught the slight look on Sasuke's face over the comment; causing her to chuckle under her breath.

"Easy Sasuke-kun…In all seriousness I think there is much we may learn still from Hideki's blood yet, as it holds countless secrets that even I wouldn't be able to discover anytime soon. But I'm sure of it with these samples… I can find a cure." She spoke confidently before getting back to work.

 **Hospital**

Once Hideki and Sarada had finished their quick meals, as the pair made their way back inside; in order to head back to her mother's office directly, the Uchiha catching Naruto suddenly walking up to them unexpectedly next. Caused the kunoichi to feel instantly troubled, as his unforeseen appearance made her question the wellbeing of his wife; especially since Boruto was nowhere in sight and he was no longer by her side.

"Nanadaimie?" She spoke after getting closer to him, to see what was wrong. "Is everything okay? Is Boruto's mother okay?" she asked next as he tried to calm her obvious racing mind.

"Thank you for asking Sarada...Nothing has changed yet, but Hinata is still in stable condition… Boruto wanted to stay with her a bit longer… Did Hideki get to meet your mother?" He asked while he looked towards the old man with a friendly smile.

"Umm… Mama took some blood and Hideki here was feeling sick, so we decided to get some food… He seems much better now… Right Hideki-san?" She asked while turning to face him as well.

"…Yes thank you," He spoke with a soft smile in return to both Sarada and Naruto.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better now… I actually was looking for you two; I'll be leaving here soon to get Himawari after I grab Boruto, since its already getting late. Sarada why don't you come with me back to the house, since your parent's will be busy here… and Hideki if you wouldn't mind I'd like you to come as well, so that way we can continue to keep a watchful eye over you, though Sarada looks to have been doing a good job on her own already." He spoke as his voice was weary from his unspoken exhaustion.

"What about my mama and papa?" Sarada thought to ask as she was concerned they would be worried about her.

"Daijobu… It was actually your father's idea, he had asked if I could watch you before we left Hideki's shop." He added in reassurance. Before she and Hideki agreed to the arrangement, as the trio left not long after to retrieve Boruto before heading back.

 **Lab Area**

After spending over two hours working nonstop as the time flew by without either Uchiha realizing it, Sakura being the first to take note at the increasingly late hour; after she had needed to take a much needed break to rest her weary eyes. Found her concern for Sarada and Hideki suddenly come to mind before she next turned towards Sasuke, whom had been busy working on his own; causing the kunoichi to be pleasantly surprised in seeing him researching patients' charts, despite him having no real medical training or medical knowledge.

"Sasuke-kun thank you for staying with me, but maybe you should go… I'm getting worried about Sarada…and it's already gotten really late, "She spoke after removing her mask, as she gave him worried look next.

"It's fine… I've made sure she and Hideki were taken care of," He commented without making eye contact, as he flipped the contents of his page he had been reading prior.

"Hontou?" She asked after not understanding his meaning.

"Ummm…Naruto agreed to keep an eye on them, since he needed to be home with his daughter…and mainly to keep Sarada out of trouble." He replied back nonchalantly, while reaching for a new piece of paper

"So ka?…" Sakura commented to herself surprised by his advance planning, as she felt reassured at least Sarada wouldn't be left on her own; with the Hokage looking after her for the night, especially since the two of them wouldn't be leaving the lab anytime soon.

"Anata… Arigato." She said to him next, before attempting to get back to work.

However in her inattentiveness to get back to what she was doing, as she went back to grab at her slide; Sakura removing the sample carelessly as she snagged her finger unsuspectingly on the side of the sharp glass. Found herself quickly standing up after the action, as Sasuke within a seconds sped to her side; while trying to inspect her hand as the glove showed to have a cut on it, making him and her anxious as a result.

"Did it get you?" he asked apprehensively next. While seeing her removing her gloves, as he along with her; had been concerned she could have accidentally infected herself with the pure blood sample she had been working with from before.

"It's… It's okay the cut only went through the outside of the glove see," She said while showing Sasuke her hand, as she tried to downplay the incident as something non serious.

However feeling unexpectedly Sasuke reaching for her hand, as he put it up to his firm chest causing her to blush; Sakura feeling his abnormally racing heartbeat, as his concern for her had been real while in turn her hand slowly lowered. Felt next Sasuke's gaze catching her attention, as his black sultry eyes stared back at her softly; before he next cupped the side of her face, making her focus more on him as her eyes began to lower.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said after noticing his descending lips; as she next on instinct pulled him in even closer after tugging his shirt; forcing the pair to finally share a much needed kiss, as their lips pressed up firmly against one another.

* * *

 **Sorry everyone the chapter was too long, so i had to omit lemon for the next chapter. I'll try to post it as soon as i can, and i promise I'll make up for it in chapter 24. :P**

 **Also the story is dwindling down, I don't know how many more chapters are left yet, but once I get a clear number I'll start the countdown.**

 **Posting Chapter 24 Tonight!**

 **Preview: Sakura and Sasuke's interaction continued, Sakura makes a new discovery but at what cost?**

 **Fanfiction rated M :P**


	24. Chapter 24

**Characters**

 **Daichi** = Sakura's colleague with a obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Saori** = Daichi's cousin and waitress

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

 **Fanfiction Rated M**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

 **Hospital**

Finding herself waking up slowly while lying on the floor, as she noticed after gradually sitting up she had been covered up by Sasuke's large black cloak; Sakura scratching her tousled hair before noticing Sasuke still fast asleep on the ground beside her, tried to recall exactly what had happened before her falling asleep. As the time had strangely escaped her once again, until she next observed upon scanning the room, her lab coat amongst other things wildly on the ground; forcing the Uchiha to quickly recall what had transpired what seemed like hours before.

 **Flashback (Chapter 23)**

Feeling Sasuke's lips firmly against hers, while she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, as she like always found herself enjoying the much wanted kiss. Sakura feeling more than deserving of the mini break, since she had desperately needed to give herself some valuable time to mentally unwind; as she put her thoughts somewhere else for a few moments.

Found surprisingly next Sasuke's sensual aggression out of nowhere unexpectedly intensify, as she felt his sly lips rapidly slip below her jawline; before he went for her sensitive pulse point, causing her breath to escape her. As she next felt her husband suddenly lifting her up from the ground, before propping her up on a clean empty counter top; catching her off guard by the abrupt unanticipated action.

"Anata?" She found herself forcefully saying, after hearing how loud the thud had been from him placing her on the hard top surface; since the noise had reminded her abruptly that she was in a place of business, as she tried to come back to her wavering senses.

"We… Should stop," She spoke halfheartedly next after feeling Sasuke returning back to her neck as he suckled and nipped even harder, purposely causing her words to stammer in her throat. "Sasuke-kun?" she tried to effortlessly say as only her lips mouthed out the words, while her voice became mute over his aggressive attention.

Sasuke finding himself grinning at her suddenly subdued nature, as he didn't have the same concerns as her; after he tossed his long cloak to the side, continued without stopping to work his wife's neck expertly. As he found next the secret trigger spot on her skin he had been searching for, before he allowed his teeth to bite down on the sweet tasting flesh harder; causing her to jump suddenly at the sly deed.

"We really shouldn't be… Doing… This you know," Sakura continued to express weakly, as even she found her own protesting unfounded; since her mind was frail and weak with want, especially after feeling Sasuke's tongue and teeth work in unison on her now throbbing bundle of nerves.

" … No one's around." Sasuke finally spoke up between kissing and biting her neck, since he had made sure to check for chakra registrations purposely; before confirming they were very much in the clear.

" …Okay … but quickly," Sakura found herself saying while her eyes closed and a deep groan seeped out, making the male Uchiha satisfied by her lack of will power; as he had her now precisely where he had wanted her.

"Sakura…" Sasuke spoke before trailing his way back to her awaiting lips, as he began to move his hand up her outer thigh; while finding himself soon smirk at his wife's choice to wear a dress.

However deciding not to comment slyly on the lucky circumstances for him, as he would be taking full advantage of Sakura's clothing choice instead; Sasuke moving to lift one of Sakura's legs over his backside momentarily, continued to allow his devilish hand to explore the rapid falling fabric of her dress. As more and more of her milky white skin became exposed to the air, allowing him to follow its descending path; before finally stopping at feeling the hem of Sakura's newly visible under garment, as he quickly found the clothing to be annoyingly in his way before working them off proficiently without any protest from his wife. As he shortly went back to indulging in the sweetness of her lips, as the pairs lips continued to battled for supreme dominance much to both of their pleasure.

However Sakura equally finding their clothing annoyingly in the way after feeling Sasuke free her from her constraints, as she next rid herself personally of her restricting lab coat as she tossed it haphazardly to the side. The female Uchiha next allowing her hands to trail down Sasuke's clothed stomach, before reaching for his belt, as she undid his bindings. Allowing him to lower the article of clothing unspokenly, as Sasuke took the unsubtle hint by tossing his belt aside as it now was a hindrance Found herself next assisting Sasuke with removing the

Once the pair found themselves free

Once Sasuke was free from his restraints as it didn't take much time, for Sasuke to become free from his, the male he next adjust Sakura's full weight to fall on him shortly after, felt upon being connected with his wife once again; the pair sharing similar grunts and moans. As Sakura used the counter top for support, while Sasuke thrusted into her with use of the firm top; allowing the duo's physical need for each other to be set free, as Sakura's legs clinched around his waist tighter as his movements became more animalsit and sporadic in nature.

 **End flashback**

Blushing madly after recalling the fact that the pair had become unexpectedly intimate with each other, as Sakura once again let her hormones and attraction for her husband get the better of her; like many countless times before. Found herself next needing to get back to her all-important research, now that she was well rested mentally and physically; as she carefully placed the cloak that had been draped on her, over Sasuke's continued sleeping form.

Before making her way over to her untouched lab table as she stared at her unfinished work momentarily; before finding next something come to mind; as her eyes expanded rapidly while she placed a bald fist against the palm of her hand quietly, in reaction to a new plan of action.

"That's it." she stated to herself quietly, before rushing to grab something's and a new pair of gloves.

 **Hokage's Home**

Waking up early after she had slept uncomfortably in Boruto's room, as Boruto and the Hokage had slept purposely in the living room respectively; after Hideki had occupied Naruto's room at his personal urging. Sarada finding upon her waking Hideki busy in the kitchen, as he had been working hard to make a good breakfast for everyone; found herself pleasantly surprised by not only the well thought out meal as she watched him set up the table expertly, but the polished looking dishes as well. As her stomach instantly began to grumble at the wonderful sight and smell, before she excitedly commented on the delicious looking food next; since she couldn't hold back in making her pleased observation at his obvious hard work.

"Sugoi! Hideki-san" She spoke up noisily causing Boruto and Naruto to wake up after falling off of the couch, as she was surprised her loud remark had woke them up; opposed to his cooking that even the hungry duo had failed to notice.

"Is that for us?" Sarada heard next from behind, before seeing Himawari coming out of her room as well, since she was just as excited to see the spectacle as Sarada.

"Yes please help yourself." The old man had answered after motioning for everyone to sit, as Naruto, Boruto, and Himawari sleepily took their seats; before the trio next began to indulge in the home cooked meal.

Sarada however waiting to take her seat after the Uzumaki's, as she had intentionally waited for Hideki to finish up in the kitchen; before she would start to partake in her meal, found in watching the old man move sluggishly around her concern from the other day begin to return. In seeing the small task seem hard on him, as he looked beyond tired once again; causing her to feel troubled and worried.

"Hideki-san maybe you should sit down and rest." Sarada said before seeing him slowly do as she suggested, as he finally took a seat before starting to eat slowly.

"Thank you Hideki-san," Naruto said after taking a sip of coffee, as the meal was energizing to him; considering the sleepless night he had being on the couch.

"It's no problem really… I'm sure it's nothing in comparison to your wife's cooking. But I figured we could all use a good meal." He said while reaching for his drink.

"Ne… Where is mama? She didn't come home last night?" the trio heard from Himawari next, making Sarada nervously looked to Boruto; over what he was going to say to his sister as it wasn't her place to say something.

However Naruto regretting hiding the truth from Boruto, as he had taken the news much more harshly by his attempts at hiding what he knew; found himself ready to admit the truth to his young daughter, before seeing Boruto suddenly interrupting him, as he knew his father didn't know how to address the situation to a young child as he spoke instead.

"Okasan… Is resting from her cold in the hospital; she'll be home in no time." He spoke with a forced smile causing Sarada to feel bad about him having to lie to his sister.

 **Outside**

Elsewhere after finding himself staring at an old grimy door, as his hands sat agitatedly inside his inner deep coat pockets; Daichi nodding his head for someone standing beside him, to proceed with opening up the door on his behalf. Found next the door was effortlessly opened allowing him access inside the facility with ease, as he probingly looked around the empty property; before noticing the various series of books and literature belonging to Hideki, while he continued to make his way around cautiously.

"The old man is gone." The other male voice spoke, causing Daichi to stop momentarily as he seemed to be looking for something in particularly; after he made his way to the back of the shop.

"I figured as much," Daichi commented before noticing a chair and a pair of untied ropes scattered on the ground oddly.

"What do you think this is from?" the man had asked after standing next to him, before seeing Daichi almost ignoring the find ; as he went instead to pick up an old thick book as he opened it up right away to examine the pages and contents.

"… It's not my concern now." He responded to the man, since he had an idea what had already happened; as he next closed and took the book with him, before instructing the man behind him promptly.

"Burn it all." He demanded much to the other man's surprise, as he made his way out of the building; before seeing shortly after walking away the facility started to go up in flames, causing him to smirk to himself coldly before he got inside his awaiting car.

 **Hospital**

Finding himself finally waking up as it had been sometime since he had a semi decent rest, Sasuke seeing strangely the small lab room; seemed to be ten times messier than he last recalled, as he examined the room over in great disbelief by this feet. Found next Sakura running around wildly as, she displayed an abnormal sense of disorderliness in attempt at completing her work; making him overly concerned as it was highly unusual for his wife and a far cry from earlier, as now she seemed to be in a frantic and almost manic manor.

"What happened?" He asked while getting properly dressed, since he couldn't tell if it was good or bad based off her action.

"I… Did it…" She said under her breath, as he tried to mark down some notes on a piece of paper.

"Wait?… You found the cure?" He reasked while trying to buckle his pants, since he had wanted to make sure she was certain and he was hearing her right.

"I believe I have it… This blood is so complex breaking down and trying to find what works with it was difficult. But when I started to look at it from a fresh perspective after a good rest, I was able to see clearly; that Daichi must have purified and manipulated his blood. Basically diluting it and infecting his victims with various combinations, which would explain why everyone reacted differently based on the level of infection." She spoke while labeling two clear vials, with the letter A and letter B.

"So how did you find the cure?" Sasuke asked as he didn't quite understand how she had figured it out.

"Well…I was trying to find some way to cancel out the effects but it's almost impossible to stop the simulation of the Fumetsu blood with someone else. So in order to find a cure, I had to come up with a way to reverse the effects all together so I've come up with 2 separate compounds…but." She paused causing Sasuke's eyes to widen, at her obvious hesitation.

"But?…" He asked after the long pause.

"Without testing it on someone… We are looking at a 50/50 chance on which one will work," she said while looking at the two vials, she now held in her hand.

"50/50?" Sasuke commented at the half odds.

"Umm…I made these antidotes on each end of a precise spectrum, I am confident that at least one will work but the other most likely won't… and due to this type of mixture, I can only test it on someone who is already infected and I if it's the wrong one." She paused again causing Sasuke to get closer to her, while he remained silent.

"If it doesn't work than… Death is immediate." She added in causing his facial expressing to become more serious.

"So what are you going to do?" He asked since she seemed to be still withholding important information from him; as he could tell this easily by the typical nature of his wife.

"I…I can't expect to take that gamble on a patient, and an animal substitute is out of the question, not to mention it would take far too much time. So… I am going to test it on myself." She admitted causing Sasuke to grab her arm, in swift reaction to the shocking news.

"Sakura…" he found himself almost yelling, as he wanted her to realize what she was saying.

"Sasuke-kun once we find which one works… I've left thorough instructions and enough for it to be duplicated and distributed to the patients that need it and..." She said before Sasuke harshly interrupted her.

"Baka…Why would you do that ... to Sarada and …to me," He tried to reason with her as the risk of her dying would be the same 50/50 result. "Besides it won't matter if you're not infected." He added next trying to throw a wrench in her suicidal plans.

"Infection isn't a problem…"She spoke with a lowered gaze, before showing Sasuke the needle she had tucked by her side. "I can infect myself enough to test the antidote; if it works I'll be saving hundreds of people... Sasuke-kun you know I have to…" She spoke while continuing to look down.

"There has to be another way." He said softly while getting closer to her.

However before the two could talk anymore on the matter as the lab door from the other side suddenly opened, the Uchiha's seeing a young nurse walking inside as she seemed to be in search for someone specifically. Quickly watched next as she almost instantaneously bowed in apologies after walking in on the unsuspecting couple, since the combination of their messy hair and askew clothing; caused her to nervously cover up her eyes. Causing Sakura to promptly down play the wrong looking image, as she watched the nurse next, hastily try to leave; as she wanted to make a get away from the small room all together.

"Sakura…San… I'll just come… back later." She spoke before; Sakura insisted it was all a misunderstanding.

"Wait it's not what you think… We were just working all last night and we ended up sleeping on the floor. Ne Sasuke-kun?" she tried to explain while looking towards her husband, as she had hoped to avoid any unnecessary trouble with the nurse seeing them together like this; even though she wasn't being one hundred percent truthful.

"Sakura-san Gomen… Your needed, it's urgent." The nurse spoke hesitantly while continuing to avoid primary eye contact with the pair, as she tried to replay the awkward message; while not wanting to see or hear any more about anything else that may have or have not happened.

"Okay let's go…Sasuke-kun… In regards to that other thing, we'll talk about it later." She spoke directly to him, as she tried to straighten up herself to be more presentable; before she followed right behind the nurse as the two left the room shortly, leaving Sasuke ultimately behind momentarily.

* * *

 **Thank you all for the feedback and comments, So that's it for chapter 24 hopefully that makes up for the lack of lemon in chapter 23 :P. The next chapter may take a little time to post, unfortunately some life events came up; so I'm having to take care of a few things. I'll post as soon as I can though.**

 **Update: Apologies I'm still alive, just have a lot of things happening at once. I should be posting soon sorry for the continued delay**


	25. Chapter 25

**Characters**

 **Daichi/Kibo** = Sakura's colleague with an obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

 **Mei** = a young Nurse at the hospital

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

 **Hospital**

After having been received by a fellow nurse, as she followed her back to a familiar patient's room; Sakura recalling the room had belonged to a lovey dovey couple she had visited with a while back, after insisting on them staying longer for further observation. Found upon entry into the room the female patient Erina was noticeably missing from her bed, while her male counterpart was in serious need of medical attention; forcing the Kunoichi to act fast as she immediately went to help, after seeing the man convulsing uncontrollably.

"What happened?" She asked the nurse that had retrieved her, while she grabbed some medical tools.

"I…I'm not sure he went into seizure activity just a while ago and I was instructed to come and find you, since he was your patient." She spoke timidly while Sakura began to assist the already present medical staff, as she assessed the man to see what exactly was happening with him.

"Please…Hold him steady." She ordered while touching the seizing man, as she could see right away his heart rate was falling. "We need to move him now…Where is the patient's girlfriend? Erina?" She thought to ask while prepping the man for the move.

"I'm afraid she's gone… She passed away earlier this morning," The nurse responded somberly, causing Sakura to stop over hearing the news; as she had yet again failed in saving another life.

However not having time to dwell in her disappointment, as she didn't want to think about how she had wasted valuable time; Sakura moving the patient as they needed to get him to a more suitable area to treat him. Took immediate charge as the medical staff followed without hesitation, while Sasuke remaining silently on the side lines; continued to watch on while equally reaching for the side of his pocket discreetly.

 **Flashback (Chapter 24)**

"Okay let's go…Sasuke-kun… In regards to that other thing, we'll talk about it later." Sakura spoke directly to him, as she tried to straighten up herself to be more presentable.

"What is your name?" Sakura asked the nurse while rushing beside her, since she had never really seen her before; which wasn't abnormal considering the need for increasing staff.

"It…It's Mei." She answered nervously while continuing to avoid eye contact with her.

"Really… Nothing happened." Sakura tried to reassure, as the two rushed off to deal with the impending emergency.

However unspokenly choosing to remain behind briefly as he had waited for Sakura and the nurse to leave the area first, Sasuke finding himself staring back at the needle she had left behind as he looked at it cautiously; next placed the dangerous capped off tool into his pocket, as he left shortly after to catch up with Sakura finally.

 **End Flashback**

Finding not much time had passed after Sakura finally made her return back to him, after assisting to the urgent matter of her critically ill patient. Sasuke seeing her taking a seat on a nearby chair beside where he had stood, knew without words the outcome of the emergency procedure. Since her face had said it all, that despite her best efforts; once again the medic ninja was unable to save the man's life, as he watched her reaching for her temples frustratingly.

"Daijobu ka?" He asked quietly, before seeing her nodding her head gradually to the question.

"You won't be able to save everyone…." He tried to make her aware, as she wasn't super human, despite her amazing abilities. "I think it's far too dangerous for you to test the antidote on yourself so… I will do it instead." He remarked next, as he wasn't asking permission as much as telling her of his plans; after revealing his unexpected possession of the syringe she had left behind next.

"Give it back!" She found herself shouting immediately upon seeing him holding the tool, as she went to retrieve it back from him; however being no match for Sasuke's speed as he pulled his hand away just shy from her reaching to object. Caused Sakura to become even more upset with him, over keeping it away from her; as she felt he didn't understand her difficult decision to put herself in harm's way to find a cure.

"Baka!…" She yelled next, as he looked back at her silently after her angered outburst.

"Sasuke-kun this wasn't an easy decision for me to make, but we are running out of time. Even now more people are becoming sick and dying, and everyone including Hinata is counting on me to save them… Do you remember many years ago you decided to take it upon yourself to start atoning for your sins?" She paused while it caught his attention, as he had recalled that day perfectly.

"I remember you when you said it had nothing to do with me… And even though I didn't want to, I accepted that because I knew it was something that you had to do for yourself and meant a lot to you," She paused once more while tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Now I'm asking you to do the same for me, I won't let you step in and put yourself at risk. Besides Sarada needs you now more than ever, to protect her and teach her to protect herself…" she spoke before Sasuke tried to stop her.

"That isn't true, she needs you more than me." He managed to say before finding her voice grow louder and more prominent over his.

"And more importantly I couldn't… No I won't bear the thought of losing you, I will risk everything even my own life to protect my family… So it has to be me." She reaffirmed with a stern look causing Sasuke to draw silent, as he was unable to contest back with the two of them at a standstill; especially since he still didn't want to condone her for taking such a dangerous risk, despite her heart felt words.

However in finding himself staring down his wife, as he thought in the back of his mind; about what he would do too Daichi if he were to meet him again, especially for causing not only chaos for Konoha but for his family as well. The Uchiha having a thought come to mind in suddenly thinking about the doctor, found himself curious about an alternative solution to their problem that even Sakura herself hadn't thought about.

"The doctor? What would happen, if you tested the antidote on him?" Sasuke questioned, causing Sakura's expression to change, as she looked back at him confusingly.

"He already has the blood limit within him... Testing the antidote on him will it have an effect?" he asked more directly next.

"Eh? well…In theory… It most likely will affect the altered cells… But doing something like that if it works is guaranteed to kill him, and of course there is the problem of him even letting us inject him in the first place…" She contemplated out loud, before finding Sasuke interrupting her.

"That's all I need to know." he responded coldly, before walking away catching Sakura off guard by his sudden departure.

"Wait… You don't even know where he is?" She said outright, as no one had been able to find him after his escape.

"I'm going to check Hideki's place for any clues first, Daichi was after him even before we got involved. So there must be a reason why… I may even find a way to locate him." Sasuke answered while keeping his back turned.

"Sasuke-kun…. Are you really sure about this?" she spoke cautiously, since she knew Naruto wouldn't go for this without questioning him properly; despite his own personal circumstances and feelings.

"You don't think he deserves to die for what he's done?" He asked as he looked at her with an unmoving expression.

Sakura hesitant to answer as he had a major point to the predetermined death sentence had wanted him easily to be punished for his crimes without question; however feeling rightfully apprehensive as death was too easy of a way out for his malicious and callus crimes. Sakura unable to truly answer the question found herself fall silent, as she didn't know what to say without it being taken wrongly.

"I'm taking this with me, don't worry I won't be injecting myself with it. But I'm going to find him now." Sasuke proclaimed while placing the needle back in his pocket, as he didn't want to wait for her answer as he took off in a hurry leaving her alone.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura found herself saying, before looking down and feeling guilty for her senseless hesitation. As she like Naruto was soft when it came to these matters, as Sasuke being very opposite from them; had no problem doing what needed to be done for the better of not only the village but his family as well.

 **Outside**

While waiting for the Hokage outside after he had needed to drop Himawari off with Hinata's sister Hanabi, in order to insure someone kept a protective watch over her. Sarada standing alongside Boruto and Hideki, as the trio were planning to visit the hospital next, in case Sarada's mother had needed Hideki's assistance further; as well as to check up on Boruto's mother.

The Uchiha thinking about the breakfast they just shared together earlier, as she recalled Boruto partly lying to his sister about the true reason she was bed ridden in the hospital; found herself wanting to praise him for his tactfulness in dealing with the over sensitive situation, especially since she knew the whole thing was extremely hard and tough on him as it showed on his face.

"Ne Boruto…" She spoke first before seeing him turn to look at her questionably while he kept his hand on the back of his head.

"You know…I think it was great what you told Himawari earlier, it couldn't have been easy for you. You really acted like an adult." She said while placing a sympathetic hand on the young ninja's shoulder, however noticing the blondes' facial expression change at the comment as he looked to be overly annoyed; Sarada feeling him swat her hand away found herself looking to him with confusion as she was unprepared for his sudden outburst.

"Don't patronize me," he yelled back making her instantly upset by his uncalled for eruption, especially after her gracious compliment.

"Hey calm down…I was just complementing you… Stop being a jerk." She responded back, as she found her fist clenching and her eyebrows frowning; as her anger grew.

"I don't need your pity." He yelled even louder, causing Hideki to step in at the rising tension levels between the two.

"Children… Please calm down." He spoke while trying to get in between the two whom had gotten now face to face.

"I will when he does, you have some nerve." Sarada spoke as she next pointed her finger at his chest.

"Don't touch me," Boruto retaliated as he got ready to swat her hand once again.

However Hideki pushing the two back before he could, found not long after interfering in the children's quarrel; himself reaching for his chest painfully, causing Sarada and Boruto to stop their mini fight after seeing him fall to the ground in agony. As Boruto next in swift reaction went to go and grab his father for help, while Sarada continued to remain by his side; as she tried to comfort him that help was surely on the way.

"Hideki-san I'm sorry… Hang on we're getting someone." She spoke while trying to get him to sit back, as he looked to be having a heart attack.

 **Sakura's Office**

Sakura walking up to her office after retrieving her self-made antidotes, as she had wanted to keep them in a safer location; especially with Sasuke taking off abruptly in search for Daichi. Found upon entry into her private room, a small box had been waiting for her on her desk; causing the Uchiha to feel instantly anxious by the surprising gift, as she moved with caution to set her things down first before making her way over to the unlabeled box.

However after making her way closer to the box, as she didn't see or sense anything amidst with the inanimate object; Sakura reaching carefully for the lid as she began to open the box slowly. Found after removing the top that an old tattered stuffed bear had been waiting inside, making her even more concerned; before she picked up the stuffed animal, after feeling it had looked vaguely familiar.

"Do you remember him?" She heard suddenly next before turning around as she noticed Daichi walking into her office, startling her since she didn't sense his presence or movements at all; causing her to be in disbelief by this feat.

"Daichi?…" She spoke while holding her fist, as she quickly assessed the two would be fighting or at the very least she would be apprehending him.

"Easy… I know how things must look right now, but I can assure you I never wanted to hurt you." He tried to explain while showing his hands were free and he was unarmed.

"How did you ?" She asked while keeping her eyes out for any other hidden surprises.

"I know it may not seem like it but I'm a man that possesses many capabilities. Even from when I was as young, I eventually learned how to manipulate and suppress my chakra where it's nearly undetectable. Think of it as a survival skill I was forced to acquire… But I can tell you more about that later," He spoke in a much deeper voice than normal, as Sakura was alarmed by this change.

"Why are you doing this?" She thought to ask next, as she had wanted to know what his true motives and goals were.

"That's unfortunately another thing I'll tell you later, of course after you come with me that is." He said while slowly extending his hand out to her, causing her to look at it with disgust.

"You think I'll just come with you like that, for a doctor you aren't very bright." She scoffed as she crossed her arms together in a pissed off manor.

"I never claim to be the brightest but… I know very well how much it means to you to save these people... Though I can't understand why. But I feel like you will come with me since it's in your best interest." He added causing her to question his confident declaration.

"Really?" She stated in disbelief, over sensing his overly cocky attitude.

"As it stands now I'm aware that Uchiha Sasuke is out looking for me, and at this very moment I have someone keeping a close eye on your daughter, her friend, and the Hokage." He admitted causing her expression to change, at hearing this information.

"Sakura-san I think you already are aware I haven't been working on my own this entire time." He added next. Making Sakura remember Sasuke telling her about the man he had encountered in Hideki's shop, that had taken his own life out of fear of Daichi's birth name Kibo.

"Though I'm willing to admit that the Hokage and your husband are very formidable, and I or my acquaintances wouldn't stand a chance against either one of them. I do have one thing that makes my friends keeping an eye on them very dangerous… As they are easily disposable to me and hold no emotional value," He said with a smirk, as Sakura instantly knew what he was insinuating.

"You're blood?" She spoke, as he smiled even wider.

"… I didn't want to force you to come with me like this, but as it stands we are running low on time. So if you refuse to come with me in the next five minutes, then I'll have no choice but to take drastic action. I will not only have my friends take action against Konoha and its people, by infecting many others. But I've also supplied my friends with a more heighten dosage of my blood which is guaranteed to be fatal." He spoke while walking closer to Sakura, after seeing her dropping her guard.

Sakura having contemplating on what she could do, after hearing Daichi's thought out plan for her predictable refusal; as she couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt or dying, lowered her head as she reluctantly nodded in agreement as she didn't want anything to happen to her daughter, husband or dear friends.

"Fine…"

* * *

 **So sorry for the long absence way too much personal stuff has been going on lately, so my apologies if my writing suffered a bit for it. I'll try to fix any errors and corrections, if there are any. I just didn't get the time to focus on the story, like i normally prefer too :/. From what it's looking like this story may have only have three or four more chapters left. So were getting to the end!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Characters**

 **Daichi/Kibo** = Sakura's colleague with an obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura, and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

 **Mei** = a young Nurse at the hospital

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

 **Hospital**

Walking down the hallway apprehensively as she held onto her right arm protectively, Mei the nurse that had retrieved Sakura earlier; due to the urgency with her patient. Found herself stopping after catching the site of Sakura suddenly leaving from her office, as she seemed to be accompanied by an unfamiliar male; as he was unrecognizable upon sight with his oversized cap and baggy clothing.

"Sakura-san?" the nurse found herself thinking, as she took a step forward in their direction.

However stopping herself after taking a step as she watched the two suddenly leaving, Mei looking down for a bit as she clutched onto her arm even harder; next turned around in opposite direction of the pair, as she began to leave abruptly without saying a single word despite desperately wanting too.

 **Outside**

Elsewhere while carrying Hideki securely on his back, after hearing of his sudden worsening condition from Boruto and Sarada; as the children followed close behind. The Hokage knowing he could get the old man back to the hospital faster than it would take for them to wait for help to come, rushed urgently to get him the medical help he needed; since the man was unable to move on his own due to the amount of continued pain he seemed to be in.

"Ojii-san hang in there," Boruto yelled from behind his father, as he leapt from the building after him.

Sarada equally wanting to voice the same encouragement to Hideki as she didn't want him to stop fighting, found herself strangely mute in following the trio; as she felt responsible for causing such trouble for the old man, especially since she was aware that something wasn't quite right ever since her mother had left him in her care.

"Hideki-san." She thought to herself while keeping right behind Boruto.

 **Hideki's shop**

Arriving shortly at his intended location since it took him little to no time to travel back too Hideki's shop on his own, Sasuke hoping to find clues in locating Daichi's whereabouts; after his initial disappearance from the hospital. Found upon arriving to the building that it had been deviously set ablaze in an obvious act of arson, as the lightly lit charred remains of the structure laid piled on the ground below; making him immediately suspect the doctor was at fault, as he kept on high alert while investigating the scene further.

However as Sasuke walked around the smoldering ashes in his attempt to understand where and when the fire had started; hearing the sudden sound of cracking wood, as it caught his attention immediately. Found next a sudden aerial attack taking him by partial surprise, as an unknown man rushed toward him quickly; before stabbing the Uchiha unsuspectingly in the stomach as he instantly fell towards the ground unresponsively.

 **Hospital**

Once the small group had finally arrived to the hospital, with medical staff acting fast in attending to Hideki; Boruto conscious of Sarada's abnormal silence, as she hadn't said a word the entire time the trio had rushed over to the facility. Found her mind state easily readable, since it was painfully clear she had been remorseful over what had happened to the old man. Making the young ninja next cough into his closed fist tensely, before mimicking Sarada's earlier gesture of placing a hand lightly on her shoulder; as he had wanted to apologize since he felt he was to blame and not her.

"Ah Sarada… Sorry." He spoke quietly while keeping his own guilty gaze away from hers.

"Huh? For what?" She found herself questioning, as she had been more focused on watching the nurses taking Hideki away.

"About our fight earlier," he spoke somberly.

"Oh that…It's okay." She responded halfheartedly, as she felt their argument held little importance. However not satisfied with her simple acceptance of his apology, as there had been more too it; Boruto turning towards her sharply decided to elaborate on his meaning, since she obviously didn't understand his feelings of the situation.

"No really… With my mom being sick. It's hard for me… So I lashed out at you when you were only trying to help… and if I hadn't of done that it wouldn't have caused all of this…" He admitted, making Sarada finally give her full attention to him; since she knew he wasn't the one to blame.

"It's actually my fault… I knew yesterday that Hideki'san wasn't well and I should have told someone … And for the fight… I should have been more understanding of your feelings of how tough it is for you with your mom being sick, I honestly don't know what I'd do if something happened with my mama." She admitted while looking back at him sternly.

"Don't blame yourself …Ojii-san will be okay… and he has your mom, she is going to make sure nothing happens to him or my mom… We just need to have faith," He added in as he wanted to show her she shouldn't blame herself either.

However in thinking of Boruto's comment about her mother, as her slight smile from his hopeful words dissipated quickly; Sarada needing to let her mother know of Hideki's condition, especially since she would be his best chance to survive. Next without notice darted off catching Naruto's and Boruto's attention, as the duo became concerned promptly; making Naruto run over to his son to try and get some answers first about what was going on.

"Boruto… Where is she going?" he asked his son, before seeing he had a similar expression to his of confusion.

"Oi…Sarada chotto…" he shouted, before following her along with Boruto.

 **Hideki's Shop**

Elsewhere after receiving a surprise attack to his mid-section from an unknown object, as the man that had initiated the attack began to grin happily; Sasuke lying on the ground motionless, as the man seemed to quickly let down his guard. Had a grin come over his face on his own, before his silhouetted body suddenly dissipated; allowing him time to make his counter attack on the unsuspecting male. While effortlessly disarming him of his weapon first, before knocking him back a few paces; causing him to fall flat on his ass abruptly.

"You're way too slow." He spoke emotionlessly next, before looking down at the shiny tool he had caused him to drop.

However upon closer examination of the foreign object, as the man had obvious intentions of stabbing him with it; Sasuke seeing it had been a loaded needle which was probable cause for concern. Placed the sole of his shoe on top of the fragile glass, before braking it with little force; since he had wanted to insure himself it would not be used on him or anyone else, as he turned around to finally deal with his sluggish attacker.

"… So where is he…. I assume that man sent you?" he asked directly, as the man gulped after catching the Uchiha's dangerous eye contact.

 **Hospital**

Rushing around the back of the hospital as she pushed passed various busy nurses and doctors, without apology, Sarada trying to locate her mother; found quickly a free nurse catching her eye as she tried next to see if she knew possibly, where her mother had been currently.

"Excuse me… Have you seen Uchiha Sakura?" She asked the nurse, before seeing her question seemed to catch her by surprise.

"Ah…." The nurse hesitated, before seeing the Hokage suddenly make his appearance as he quickly grabbed Sarada's shoulder.

"Hey, why did you leave, so suddenly?" Naruto asked Sarada right away after catching up with her, since he was responsible for her in her parent's absence.

"Please I'm her daughter, I need to know where she is... It's urgent" She pleaded to the nurse while ignoring Naruto's question; since her need to find her was more dire.

"I…I don't think she's here. Right now," The nurse finally answered; making Sarada frown her eyebrows at hearing this, as it was entirely unexpected to here.

"Sorry to bother you, I know you must be busy…Ido… Mei-chan is it?" Naruto spoke apologetically; after catching her name tag to address her properly.

"It's okay I need to get going now." She spoke before walking away quickly. Leaving Sarada with Boruto and Naruto, as the pair looked at her questionably about why she took off on her own unexpectedly.

"Nee…Hokage Sama… Can you sense my mama…?" She asked while looking down, since the nurse's comment made her apprehensive.

"Eh? Hang on." Naruto responded inquisitively, before closing his eyes; while she and Boruto watched him work.

"Huh? That's strange… Sasuke isn't here ? … Though I can still sense him not that far away… But Sakura-chan?" He thought to himself as he was oddly unable to sense her.

However before he could respond to Sarada's question, as she had waited on him patiently to respond. The Hokage seeing Shikamaru rapidly approaching the small group unexpectedly next, made him quickly refrain from revealing the truth; as the serious looking shinobi had obviously something on his mind, since he had come to get him specifically.

"You need to come with me," Shikamaru spoke after getting the trios attention.

 **Hideki's shop**

Feeling his patience expire, as he was unwilling to entertain the man's silent stubbornness any longer; as he rejected to acknowledge or answer his earlier question. Sasuke realizing the man was far weaker than he let on, with his obvious lack of basic ninja skills and knowledge. Decided next to grab him by his shirt collar, as he wanted answers now to Daichi's whereabouts; without any further delay or games from the stubborn man.

"I allowed your friend to waste my time …This time I'm not going to be so generous…. " he spoke coldly, as he wanted him to be aware that his threat was a promise.

However noticing in response to his threats the man began fidgeting more, as he seemed to be indiscreetly reaching for something in his pocket; Sasuke easily removing the tool from the man's possession. Found quickly the item he had taken, looked identical to the one the man he had captured before had used; making him next look back alarmed he too was planning on taking his own life to cover up for the doctor.

"It isn't going to be that easy." Sasuke reassured before tossing the vial he had grabbed, to the ground; forcing the man's hand now that he didn't have his alternative option.

"Please…" The man spoke next as he began to tear up, making Sasuke instead narrow his eyes at the strange tactic, as he loosened his grip at something not being right.

"I'm not going to talk too you… So please…Do what you will to me or give me the needle." The man demanded while noticeably looking to his side, causing Sasuke to take notice as he next dropped the man to the ground suddenly.

"Don't move," the Uchiha spoke after closing his eyes, as he undetectably switched his positioning; before he soon was standing on a nearby building roof top; forcing the person whom had been watching from above to finally reveal themselves, since he had him cornered using the sharp tip of his blade.

"Wow… you really are as good as I've heard." The cornered man said, before pulling out and using his own kunai and largely powered strength; to push Sasuke back a bit, as his feet slid on the ground, before the pair were face to face at a brief standstill.

"Hum…" Sasuke smirked back to the comment, before quickly lowering his height, as he speedily and efficiently under swept the man's feet, while equally using his newly free hand after tossing his sword to punch the ground; as he watched narrowly the man escape the attack after he had caught him off guard, as he jumped back barely to avoid the blow.

"That was close…" The man spoke to himself, while wiping, some sweat from his head.

"Are you going to be the one to tell me what I want to know?" Sasuke asked the unknown man, once he stood back up on his own feet; before gradually undoing the ties of his cloak.

"I wouldn't be that presumptuous… I probably don't even know what you are talking about. I am only here because of the money." He spoke before rushing towards the Uchiha once again, this time in retaliation for the trip up earlier.

Sasuke unworriedly allowing the man to rush bullheadedly towards him, as he easily dodged a series of unconnecting blows; found however in dodging one particular attack, the man had also attempted to stab him with a new loaded needle, like the one he had destroyed just before. Making him smartly distance the space between the two, as from the look of things he needed to avoid being stabbed by the dangerous object.

"What's wrong are you getting scared?" The man taunted further, as he playfully switched up the tool in his hands back and forth. "It's simple really…One of us is going to die today, it will either be you or me." The man added with a smile.

"This is your only warning… Where is Daichi?" Sasuke asked in a grunting voice, as he would be putting a stop to things right here.

"Daichi?… Sorry don't know that name…." The man shrugged heavily with his shoulders. Making Sasuke recall that he most likely knew him under his true birth name Kibo instead.

However not having time to rephrase his question, as the man began rushing toward him yet again; Sasuke moving side to side to evade his continued various blows. Decided to end things as he threatened before by waiting for his chance at catching the man off guard, before laying an impeccably timed blow to his gut first; as he next threw a contacting punch to his cheek forcing him to plummet to the ground from the roof, in a loud thud and puff of smoke caused by the dirt.

"Enough…Where is Kibo?" Sasuke demanded after jumping down from the roof himself, as he made his way over to where the man had been knocked down too.

However seeing as he got closer the man had been strangely unresponsive and unmoving, Sasuke cautiously turning him over; noticed right away the man had died after being stabbed by his own needle he had carelessly held onto. Confirming his connection to Daichi, as the needle he had most likely contained a mixture of Fumetsu blood; causing even more frustration for him, since Sasuke now couldn't interrogate the man with his questions even further.

"Damn…" he cursed under his breath before recalling he still had one more, person of interest as he turned to see the man he had let go of earlier; crawling his way over to the vial he had tossed to the ground some distance away.

"Now talk," He demanded after picking up the vial into his hand, just shy of the man's labored reach.

"…I'll tell you under one condition." The man spoke making Sasuke intrigued by his need to make demands, especially seeing he didn't have any leverage to do so.

"After I tell you, you must give me that vial…" He spoke, causing Sasuke to look at the tool momentarily since the man was compelled to have it.

"It's not my concern… If you would rather die than know you betrayed this man. Then I'll give you this and you can do as you wish." He said before seeing the man wipe some remaining tears from his face, as Sasuke intriguingly lowered his height; so he was more face to face with the man.

"Just what is it he has on you, that makes you want to die for him." He thought to ask since he didn't understand his loyalty.

"It's …. My Family." The man spoke before completely breaking down, making Sasuke frown his eyebrows worriedly.

* * *

 **Like always still have some edits on this, but i wanted to get it posted soon. :P**


	27. Chapter 27

**Daichi/Kibo** = Sakura's colleague with an obvious attraction to Sakura

 **Mrs Izumi** = Older Nurse works at the hospital alongside Sakura and is familiar with Sarada.

 **Itaru Fumetsu** = Man missing, with a rare blood limit.

 **Hideki Fumetsu** = Older man, rescued by Sasuke, also shares rare blood limit.

 **Lilly** = Head Scheduling nurse

 **Mei** = a young Nurse at the hospital

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

 **Hideki's Shop**

"My Family…" The man that had attacked Sasuke spoke, after being asked why he was so motivated by Daichi; to take his own life.

"Your Family?" Sasuke responded to himself after his surprising answer.

"…I was only given two options if I were to successfully kill you, then my life would be spared. But if I failed … Then I was to take my life immediately." The man said while pointing to the needle.

"And If I refused either of these options… Than I was threatened that my families' life would be in danger. You see that man over there was watching me to insure I did what I was told, so if they find out that I'm still alive while you are. Then they'll kill my family for sure… So I have to do what was asked of me, so please give me that vial..." He asked the Uchiha directly, while he in turn looked back at him with a troubled expression.

"It's okay really… In honesty I'm already a dead man," He spoke after seeing Sasuke's concern, as he next began a coughing fit before spitting up some blood.

"You're sick?" Sasuke asked before seeing the man reveal a puncture mark next, under one of his covered-up arms.

"Ummm… It happened a while back, that is how I got into this predicament in the first place and I'm afraid I'm not the only one. There are others out there in similar circumstances as me, forced to do things for the sake of saving themselves." The man paused while rolling down his sleeve.

"I was told if I did successfully complete the job in killing you, a man named Kibo would provide a cure for me…" He admitted next.

Sasuke now understanding how Daichi was manipulating people to do his bidding, as it became more apparent that he was not above using callous methods; to complete his threatening promises. Looked back to the sickly pleading man, after he had handed over to him next a piece of paper; forcing the Uchiha to take a quick, as it looked to be a hand written note with an address written inside.

"I apologize for attacking you earlier, I knew in my heart I wouldn't be able to kill you but I had to at least try… If there were any other way I would have liked to avoid you and my family the trouble … If…If you would be kind enough to give this to them, I would be grateful. And if you could please leave me the vial then I can end my suffering quickly." The man spoke, causing Sasuke to look down annoyingly at the vial; as the man just like Sakura was willing to do whatever he needed to for the sake of his family.

"I… Can put a stop to this…I just need to know where he is…Kibo" Sasuke said next, once again overlooking the man's verbal request.

"…I…" The man spoke before stopping, as he still seemed uncertain to answer; despite the Uchiha's reassurance.

" …My wife is a doctor and she's been working extremely hard on finding a cure. She's even willing to die for the sake of it… If we can find this man, then we can save not only yours but hers and everyone else's lives as well… So please." The Uchiha calmly spoke, after lowering his height; since he had needed him to understand how important the information was to him, especially since he himself couldn't stop Sakura from doing something drastic for long

"I'm really sorry… I wish I knew, but I don't know where he is…" The man finally answered back, before frustratingly putting his fingers into his locks; as he had understood Sasuke's plight all too well.

Sasuke also frustrated to hear this, as he didn't like to show any vulnerability to friends much less a stranger; found himself standing up to walk away, before the man quickly thought of something as he quickly did recall some helpful information.

"Wait… I don't know if this will help, but around the time I was given my orders there was another person with me… A young woman. I believe we were infected around the same time, but she seemed to be more needed than me and I believe she knows this Kibo person … It may be because she was a nurse." He spoke causing Sasuke to stop.

"A nurse?" he reasked with great concern, and narrowed eyes.

"Yes?" the man confirmed, before seeing Sasuke leaving again. "…Where are you going?" he asked next causing him to stop temporarily.

"I need to get back to the hospital… Here." Sasuke paused while tossing the vial to the man, as he kept his back turned towards him. "You can do as you wish… But if I were you I wouldn't inject yourself just yet, for now stay hidden I'll send help for you and your family. This is coming to an end today." He spoke sternly before taking off, as the man surprised by his stern voice looked down at the vial.

 **Hospital**

Finding themselves walking up to what looked to be a security surveillance room, Shikamaru leading Naruto, Boruto, and Sarada purposely into the area first per his over cautious behavior; began to explain next after the trio's arrival, his worrying discoveries as he went into more detail once they were inside the private room.

"I'm afraid It's Sakura… She's gone missing from the hospital, and no one knows where she's gone off too." Shikamaru spoke first, causing Sarada to have a grim face; since this was what she had feared most, as the Shinobi continued.

"I was already working on something when I heard she was gone, so I came in here to review some of the hospital cameras to get an idea of where she was seen last; since there are several throughout the building… I also tried to track down that doctor this way earlier, but I couldn't unfortunately find any video on him." He paused while sitting down at the main computer.

"Shikamaru-sensei my mama… She wouldn't just leave like that. Her patients are too important to her …" Sarada finally spoke up while she purposely looked back to Boruto, since she was thinking about his mother in particularly.

"I know." Shikamaru quietly responded next. "… I tried to look into the matter further," He reassured, while typing speedily on the computer; before pulling up a video.

"What did you find?" Naruto asked after getting closer to examine the screen.

"Since the hospital has cameras, I decided to pull from their archive of when Sakura was last seen. If you look at this video here, it was taken shortly before her reported disappearance…" He added in getting Sarada and Boruto's attention more, as they tried to inspect the moving image closer.

"As you can see here, we have her walking out of her office normally. But if you look more closely, after she walks out the image becomes strangely distorted making it impossible to make out what happens after she leaves. Eventually the camera becomes clear again, but by that time several minutes have been lost." He commented sternly, while pulling up something else.

"So if you see her leaving her office, is there also a video of her leaving the hospital too?" Boruto thought to ask next.

"There wasn't…" Shikamaru responded, causing the trio to be confused.

"I initially searched for that type of video first, but there wasn't any physical proof of her leaving the building. But when I tried to review the cameras closest to the hospital exit near her office, I did find something strange catch my attention." He paused before pulling up a second video and playing it.

"This was taken some time after Sakura left her office, as you can see this has the same distortion like the first one before. But there is one major difference between this and the other video …" he said while pausing the video two noticeable times. "In this one there is over 30 minutes missing from the feed." He explained further after pointing to the time.

"So what your saying is..." Naruto spoke while the Shinobi nodded.

"Yes this is no coincidence, someone caused the manipulation of the footage. To hide what's really happened with Sakura…" He voiced while glancing back at the Hokage.

"…Daichi" Sarada thought fearfully to herself after hearing Shikamaru's explanation of his findings. However Naruto placing a hand on her shoulder first after seeing how worried she became over the news, tried to console her with his small gesture the best that he could; before revealing he too didn't have any better news to reveal, as he explained his own troubles in locating her as well.

"I tried to track down Sakura-chan myself after Sarada here asked me to, but I haven't been able to sense her at all." Naruto said while keeping a vigilant eye on Sarada's reaction.

"So ka… What about Sasuke? I tried to find him." The Shinobi asked, especially since he knew he had been with her; when he had last seen the pair.

"He isn't here but I can still sense him. I guess he must have taken off to investigate something." He responded questionably, while placing his hand under his chin.

"That guy, really?" Shikamaru said in a sighing manor, as he recalled warning him of the dangers of Sakura being left unguarded; despite her own capabilities. "What was he thinking … Does he not care about Sakura's safety at all." Shikamaru spoke carelessly next, before he and Naruto stopped; after hearing the door suddenly shut, as Sarada left the room without notice after the two adults careless chatter.

"Good going." Naruto scolded while looking at Shikamaru after his comment, as he in response shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll go and get her." Naruto reluctantly said before, feeling Shikamaru stopping him suddenly; as there had obviously been more he had wanted to say. Forcing the Hokage to nod to him discreetly, before turning to Boruto; as he needed his help, by asking a favor.

"Hey Boruto…I still need to talk too Shikamaru for a bit more, could you go and check on Sarada for me?" He asked the young ninja, as he in turn crossed his arms at the almost condescending request.

"I get it already, I'm not a child," he said annoyingly before leaving the two alone, as he went off to try and talk with her; mainly because of his own concern for her.

Naruto semi relieved he did as he was asked, before he rubbed the back of his neck nervously; waited until his son was completely out of the room first. Before turning back more seriously to Shikamaru, since he had obviously withheld information; for the sake of Sarada since it was apparent it was meant for adults only.

 **Unknown Location**

Elsewhere after finally waking up as it took her some time to come too; Sakura feeling light headed and groggy as she became more and more aware of her surroundings. Found herself lying on a couch in an isolated room, before remembering what had happened not long; as she felt next a fresh mark on her arm.

 **Flashback (Chapter 25)**

"You first Sakura-san." Daichi said after gesturing for her to leave out of her office.

Sakura reluctantly having no choice per their earlier negotiation to do as he asked, as she willingly left the room first; shortly made her way towards the exit next. Before suddenly feeling something stabbing her arm, as she looked back in shock; after Daichi had stabbed her with something abruptly, forcing her to black out completely.

 **End flashback**

Grabbing her arm even tighter as she remembered being drugged, Sakura sitting up to catch her wavering balance; began looking around next to unknown room she was in. Before making her way over to the only door in the room, as she found like she had anticipated it had been locked, making her assume it too had been Daichi's doing.

 **Hospital**

Walking away after hearing from the adults her mother had gone unexpectedly missing, Sarada a bit angry with her father for leaving the hospital instead of staying by her mother's side; after he said that he would watch over her. Found next herself needing to stop after hearing her name being called, as not long after she witnessed Boruto running up to her; from almost out of nowhere, as he tried to gage what she wanted to do now considering the circumstances.

"So, what is the plan now?" he thought to ask first, as he was slightly winded after catching up with her; since she had walked away so fast.

"I don't know just yet… but I know Daichi is the cause of this." She said while looking back at the teen.

"Are you sure? Your mom is freakishly strong. I think she would pulverize him before he could even get the chance, and besides my old man and Shikamaru sensei are already on top of it. Maybe we should just let them handle it for now." Boruto tried to say, especially since they had no way of finding where Daichi was anyway.

However remaining silent to the comment, as she didn't want her true motives known; the Uchiha looking back to Boruto with a smile, which caught him entirely off guard. Almost instantly changed her somber tone and mood as she looked to be cheerful and bubbly, giving Boruto overall a bad feeling by her sudden change in behavior.

"You're right," She spoke before leaving, causing Boruto to question where she was off to now.

"Hey… Wait now where are you going." He asked while seeing her keep he r back towards him.

"I need to check on Hideki-san." She said next.

"Sarada…" Boruto said under his breath, as he knew she still felt guilty; despite him reassuring her otherwise. "Hey you know I can come with you." He tried to explain, before finding her stopping him quickly after his suggestion.

"It's okay…I need to go by myself… Don't worry I know you and the Hokage are worried about me, but I just want to visit with him to see how he's doing... You should go and visit your mother, its already getting pretty late." She said with a soft smile, while turning back to face him.

"Ye…ah I guess I could." Boruto unenthusiastically agreed, as he wasn't buying Sarada's accepting act towards the matter with her mother; however the young ninja secretly wanting to check in on his own mom, as he wondered how she was fairing. Had no choice but to trust and leave Sarada on her own, as he left after their brief talk to go check on her; as the pair both went their separate ways.

* * *

 **Sorry for my abnormal absence, as these last chapters are written its taking more time to go over them and post. I had hoped to post this one way sooner, but I didn't get a lot of time to work on it plus numerous things have been coming up. :/**


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